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Loudoun Cares Announces 2021 Outstanding Volunteer Awards

Celebrating Over 100 Loudoun County Volunteers with Distinguished Speaker Chair Phyllis J. Randall and Emcee Tony Howard

LEESBURG, Virginia (April 2021) – On Sunday, May 16th Loudoun Cares will honor more than 100 Loudoun County volunteers across 15 categories at the virtual 2021 Outstanding Volunteer Awards (OVAs) celebration. The event will be livestreamed at no cost on the Loudoun Cares Facebook page from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The annual OVAs event celebrates volunteers for their outstanding contributions to making our community a great place to live, work, and play and features new awards highlighting service in light of COVID-19.

Award categories include adult, senior, youth, and several specialties including the Judy Hines Service of a Lifetime award that honors volunteers having served Loudoun County for over 10 years. This year Loudoun Cares has added a new award category, “Nonprofit Volunteer Board”, to honor the dedicated volunteers on local nonprofit boards. Additionally, the newest OVAs award is the “RiseUp award” which honors outstanding volunteer service in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

Several Loudoun County Board of Supervisors will recognize a volunteer(s) in their district while the Chair-at-Large Phyllis Randall will be recognizing a volunteer county wide. Chair Randall will be featured as the distinguished speaker along with emcee Tony Howard, President & CEO of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce.

“We all know that this year has been challenging and the need for services has soared for many of our nonprofits here in the county. We want to recognize and congratulate the outstanding service of those volunteers that have donated their time, faced the challenge head-on and made a significant impact on the lives of our residents. We are so appreciative of their service to our community and to our many sponsors for making this event possible,” says Valerie Pisierra, Loudoun Cares Executive Director.

The 2021 Outstanding Volunteer Awardees being honored are:

• Judy Hines Service of a Lifetime: Dennis Godfrey, Catholic Charities Diocese of Arlington
• Gabriella Miller Youth Volunteer: Christian Yohannes, Justice 4 Fitz
• Chairperson Volunteer Recognition: Homeowner Services Committee with Loudoun Habitat for Humanity
• RiseUp Award – Dr. John Farrell
• Algonkian District: Isamar Ortega, New Virginia Majority and St. Gabriel’s Church
• Broad Run District: Ashburn Volunteer Fire & Rescue
• Leesburg District: Joe Mydlinski, Loudoun Hunger Relief
• Sterling District: Ovidia Castillo Rosa and Luze Rosa, New Virginia Majority
• Outstanding Adult Volunteer: Wendy Oakford, Dulles South Food Pantry
• Outstanding Adult Volunteer Team: Loudoun’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy Instructors,

Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce

• Outstanding Adult Public Safety: Kathleen Leary, Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad
• Outstanding Senior Volunteer: Dennis Godfrey, Catholic Charities Diocese of Arlington
• Outstanding Senior Volunteer Team: Food Donations Team, The Senior Center of Leesburg
• Outstanding Veteran Volunteer – Bernard Mustafa, Count the Region- An Initiative of the
  Community Foundation for Northern Virginia
• Outstanding Volunteer Team: Loudoun County Medical Reserve Corps
• Outstanding Volunteer Project: BENEFIT Loudoun
• Outstanding Youth Volunteer Team: Young Men’s Service League, Oakton Chapter, Women Giving Back
• Outstanding Corporate Volunteer Team: Northwest Federal Credit Union Foundation
• Outstanding Community/Civic Volunteer Organization: St. Theresa Catholic Church of Ashburn
  and Knights of Columbus, Loudoun Habitat for Humanity
• Outstanding Nonprofit Volunteer Board: Loudoun Career Firefighters Foundation

Sponsors:

• Outstanding Volunteer Awards Event Sponsor: Backflow Technology
• Outstanding Volunteer Awards Youth Category Sponsor: Northwest Federal Credit Union
• Outstanding Volunteer Awards Adult Category Sponsor: United Bank
• Outstanding Volunteer Award Sponsors: Blair’s Towing & Recovery (Adult Public Safety); Momentum Realty (Youth Team)
• Outstanding Volunteer Support Sponsors: Alphagraphics (Print); Ci Pro A/V(Tech); Carried Away Gifts (Appreciation)

For more information on sponsoring this year’s awards please contact valerie@loudouncares.org and to learn more about volunteering at Loudoun Cares Online Volunteer Center, please visit: https://volunteer.loudouncares.org/

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About Loudoun Cares

Loudoun Cares is a Leesburg-based nonprofit serving the Loudoun County community through its information & referral ConnectLine and Online Volunteer Center. The ConnectLine specializes in connecting people in need with resources, information, or referrals to local service and support providers. In 2020, the ConnectLine fielded more than 4,000 calls and connected more than 1,300 households with organizations that could help them through hardship. They partnered with Catholic Charities and created the COVID-19 Relief Fund and Helpline that has helped to distribute over $1.25 mil in rental and utility assistance to Loudoun families. Loudoun Cares’ Volunteer Center is the county’s only online portal connecting volunteers with local nonprofits in need of support. In 2020, the Volunteer Center connected more than 1,700 volunteers to local nonprofits. The Center currently has over 235 nonprofits registered and receives between 80-100 new volunteer registrations each month.

For more information about how to volunteer or to request volunteers, please visit www.loudouncares.org​ or call 703-669-2351. If you or someone you know has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 crisis call 703-669-5040.