Volunteer of the Year
Residents of Elk River who exemplify community spirit and involvement.
2026 Volunteer of the Year
Information to come.
Previous Volunteer of the Year Winners
Information to come.
Previous Volunteer of the Year Winners
Janet is an active volunteer with several organizations, including the ThumbsUp After School program, the Lincoln Elementary Every Meal food distribution, and the CAER Food Shelf. She serves as the Volunteer Hub Coordinator for the Sherburne County United Way Shiver event and is a Mentor Mom for the MOPS program. She is part of the KTIS Krew for concerts and events around the cities, and is a House Church Leader at Central Lutheran Church. Janet also provides QuickBooks consulting for the Elk River Rotary Club.
Donita is the Chair of Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Elk River, which assists veterans and their families with everyday needs. She spends many hours running meetings and serving as a clearing house for the organization. Donita is also the Head of the Military Ministry at Central Lutheran Church, which involves asking for support, sending out packages to military members of the church, and fundraising. She volunteers at the gift shop at Guardian Angels Care Center, works on the fudge fundraiser, and is one of the chairs of the annual Guardian Angels Gala. Additionally, she has volunteered at the St. Cloud VA and made several donations to the organization.
Dave has been instrumental in the quality and upkeep of our city’s parks. He volunteered over 900 hours in just 2022 working on our parks. Dave is the park steward for Woodland Trails Regional Park. At that park alone, Dave has coordinated a trail erosion project, coordinated the grooming of trails, periodically mowed ten miles of trail, cut down dead trees, installed seasonal signage, put up mile markers on the Great Northern Trail, spread ten loads of wood chips, recruited volunteers, and supported the biathlon and high school Nordic ski teams. Outside of Woodland Trails Regional Park, Dave helped repurpose the “welcome to Elk River” sign at Orono Park, helped provide the play area at Orono Park dog park, led a volunteer group to reorganize the Orono Cemetery Association, is part of a planning group for city archery deer hunts in parks, and a coordinator of the City of Elk River volunteer program.