Urbandale Network Honors September Volunteers

Press Release

The Urbandale Community Action Network (UCAN) awarded their monthly Spotlight Volunteer Award for September to Jennifer Gardner and Cindy Walker.  UCAN Board President Bruce Bernard nominated Jennifer and Cindy in recognition of their individual and collective work to provide backpacks with school supplies to students in the Urbandale school system.   

Jennifer and Cindy, both Urbandale residents and UCAN volunteers, collaborated to organize the back-to-school supplies program contacting potential donors, determining  basic supplies  needs per grade level, collecting the backpacks, filling them, delivering them to the various distribution points, and helping students select their perfect back pack.

Bernard commented, "Jennifer and Cindy devoted countless hours to this project, handled the many details without a hitch and lived the UCAN vision for being "catalysts for positive community action and spirit."  Jennifer and Cindy are active members of the UCAN Human Services committee, as well as several other organizations in Urbandale.

Thank you, Jennifer and Cindy, and thank you to the churches, organizations, businesses and individuals that gave generously to make this a huge success.

Jennifer and Cindy join previous Spotlight winners:  Marilyn Sims; Karen Acres Elementary School teachers Jade Fox, Linda Ennen, Kristin Pawloski, and Jessica Kugler; Fred and Sue Koch; Marilyn Carlson; and Caring Corps staff Jene Breiten, LaVonne Clark, Charlotte Leckband, and Emma Nelson.

The UCAN Spotlight Volunteer award recognizes outstanding service to UCAN and thereby the community.

The Urbandale Community Action Network (UCAN) is a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) organization serving as a catalyst for positive community action and spirit in Urbandale. It is the second generation of the Urbandale Community Action Council. UCAN is focusing on ways to impact the community today and define what Urbandale should look like in the year 2017, the city’s 100th birthday.

For more information, visit the group's website or find Urbandale Community Action Network on Facebook and Twitter.