Santa Cruz County's top government volunteers honored

April 11--SANTA CRUZ -- They paint over gang graffiti, maintain trails, care for sheltered animals and play key roles in the Sheriff's Office -- all without pay.

Each year, hundreds of people volunteer throughout Santa Cruz County's government, arguably redefining the term "public servant" as some have logged thousands of hours of service over more than a decade of consistent work.

On Tuesday, county leaders honored 19 of those volunteers and interns that help keep their programs humming, receiving thanks and certificates of commendation during Tuesday's meeting of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors.

This year's Outstanding County Volunteer Award recipients included Paul Martin, a familiar face for many in public works who has spent decades removing graffiti from Santa Cruz County's streets.

Another, Al Heuter, 69, has helped build and maintain trails at Quail Hollow Ranch for 16 years. To date, Heuter has put in 4,000 hours of service.

Heuter, who started volunteering on his own, said he is part of a team of six responsible for all of the county park's regular trail maintenance.

"It's my church," Heuter said.

Volunteers are placed through the Volunteer Initiative Program, founded in 1984 as a partnership between the county and the nonprofit Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County. According to the center, volunteers have contributed close to 750,000 hours through the program since it began tracking data in 1987.

"It's a way for people to be directly engaged in their community, and they love it," said Volunteer Center Director Karen Delaney said.

According to Delaney, more people are seeking ways to lend a hand helping causes they care about in and out of government, with the center placing more than 12,000 volunteers in 2017.

"Volunteering is growing," Delaney said.

LENDING LAW A HAND

Volunteering with law enforcement has come a long way from the days when small-town sheriffs would reportedly wrangle up a posse of able-bodied men to keep the peace or pursue criminals.

But according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart, volunteers play key roles in staffing the county's six remote sheriff's substations and help out in a range of additional roles, including with investigations, missing persons, the coroner's section, citizen patrol and the office's new home and business safety program.

About 115 people volunteer with the office, Hart said.

"It has been a great relationship with the community," Hart said. "It's something our deputies value, and I really value, and I want to thank the county for running this great program that's been benefitting us all."

Every Tuesday, Kristina Hyland, of La Selva Beach, volunteers staffing the Sheriff's Office Aptos Service Center.

"A lot of my job is sending community members in the right direction," Hyland said. "Sometimes it's animal control, sometimes it's public works -- sometimes they need to call 911."

Hyland said she keeps showing up every week because she herself has faced many of the same types of problems that bring area residents through the service center's doors.

"I've had those issues, and I didn't know how to work those issues until I became a volunteer."

OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEERS

Outstanding County Volunteer Award recipients:

Linda Brodman, Penny Bullert, Tom Fieweger, Linda Gray, Kristina Hyland, Kathy James, Richard James, Roger Janow, Al Keuter, Paul Martin, Richard Mitchell, Nancie Newby, Juliana Rodriguez. Sharon Snedden, Dave Suno, Gabrielle Thompson, Antonia Torres, Sean Wharton and Taleese Yonkers.

To get involved: scvolunteercenter.org.

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