Latest Winner
Wayne Stordahl
October 2025 - Hancock Trails Club
Wayne has quietly had a big impact on getting residents involved with cross country skiing, which is a life-long activity that can help maintain good physical and mental health!
Marti Staresnick
September 2025 - Copper Country Angel Mission
Marti distributes food two days each week with a cheerful disposition. She fills the requests of those needing food and does so in a way that respects the dignity of the clients. Marti has trained others to assist her in the food pantry, but she is truly its heart and soul.
Emily Stanton
August 2025 - Keweenaw Pridefest
Emily’s work has had a transformative impact on the Keweenaw community. By fostering visibility and inclusion for LGBTQ+ residents, she has helped reduce isolation and build a stronger, more connected community.
Yvette Simmons
July 2025 - Baraga Community Volunteer
Yvette gives to her family and community without asking anything in return. She has a passion for helping Baraga area youth thrive with activities. She is simply amazing. Yvette, we tip our hat to you!
Izaak Lauer
June 2025 - Keweenaw Land Trust
Izaak has generously offered his time, skills and unwavering support to our organization. From computer troubleshooting and equipment purchasing to coding, tech upgrades and fundraising strategies, he has become an invaluable behind-the-scenes force.
Mike McMahon
May 2025 - Keweenaw ATV Club
Mike helped to form the Keweenaw ATV Club 20 plus years ago. He was instrumental in getting the ATV trails in north Houghton and Keweenaw counties designated. Without his vision 20 years ago, there might not be any ATV trails in our area.
Bruce Coppo
April 2025 - Calumet Wolverines
Cukie has been the lifeblood of the Calumet Wolverines for more decades than any of the current players on the team have even been alive. You'll see him at the Colosseum four or five times a week, almost always with a smile on his face, doing what needs to be done.
Amanda Makela
March 2025 - Main Street Calumet
Amanda has committed a great deal of time and energy to making Pasty Fest a standout event in our community, applying her design skills to this event, creating a range of content and managing our social media platforms for a much broader impact than we've ever been able to achieve in the past.
Ahmeek Ice Rink Volunteers
February 2025 - Ahmeek Ice Rink
They are at the rink daily, performing all the necessary duties that are needed to make the rink and shack a better place to be. They work tirelessly in the cold preparing the ice for hockey players and figure skaters. They deserve to be recognized for all that they have done and do for our local rink.
Susan Lutz
January 2025 - Omega House
Sue has volunteered tirelessly for Omega House and their residence! She is always ready to help anyone at any given time, never expecting anything in return.
Patty Asselin
December 2024 - Keweenaw County No Kid Without a Christmas
Each year, Patty works tirelessly to organize several events, which in turn raises thousands of dollars for both Keweenaw Search and Rescue and Keweenaw County No Kid Without a Christmas.
Suha Khalil
November 2024 - Muslim Students Association at MTU
As an international family living far from home, being a minority can sometimes be challenging. Still, Suha manages to make a difference while caring for her newborn baby girl. She selflessly volunteers to help to create a community for those that are part of the Muslim Students Association.
Terry Peterson
October 2024 - 31 Backpacks Volunteer
Terry has helped 31 Backpacks find ways to recycle cardboard and plastic for little to no cost. She made it her responsibility to ensure everything that could be recycled, did get recycled.
Kitty Beleck, Julie Karvonen, Pete Lammi and Fred Fountain
September 2024 - Omega House ATV Ride
They have been instrumental in raising over $12,000 since they started the benefit a few years ago and have put a lot of hard work and many hours into the Omega House ATV Ride.
Vada Riederich
August 2024 - "Big Annie" Statue Fund
Vada is a charismatic and passionate community member who has been working tirelessly to educate our community about the contributions that Anna Clemenc made to our local community and the U.S Labor Movement.
Miyoko Wisti
July 2024 - Volunteer for International Neighbors and Canterbury House
Miyoko is an enthusiastic member and volunteer at International Neighbors, where she serves as the host for every meeting. Miyoko extends her volunteer services to the Canterbury House meetings, and offers her exceptional Japanese tutoring skills to the Canterbury House community.
Ryan Towles
June 2024 - Bridgefest Volunteer and Race Director of Thatcher Markham Memorial Run
Ryan has worn many hats throughout the years of Bridgefest, with the primary goal of working directly with the Bridgefest committee to ensure a safe and successful event.
Bill Binroth
May 2024 - Let's Eat Community Meals & Let's Rebuild Community
Bill is an amazing individual, who is constantly looking out for the welfare of those less fortunate. He is a blessing to our community.
Michelle Frederick
April 2024 - Community Volunteer
What truly sets Michelle apart is her unwavering commitment to planting seeds of recovery and breaking down the barriers of stigma that surround addiction.
Tyler Swank
March 2024 - Keweenaw CAPE & The Make It UP! Makerspace
Tyler has spent his own money and used his own materials to set up our 3D printing station, volunteered to instruct workshops, spent hours upgrading our computers and set up a functional computer lab for CAPE.
Doug Harrer
February 2024 - CopperDog Chairman
Doug gives selflessly to CopperDog in hopes that the organization can continue to benefit the community and help grow the economy.
Rob Rowe
January 2024 - Community Volunteer
Rob is a jack of all trades with a giving heart. He does countless things for others. If you need help with a project, he's there.
Marilynn Lightfoot
December 2023 - Community Volunteer
Marilynn is a community volunteer that helps in so many places to help make the Calumet community a better place. That includes the Calumet Theater, Fireman's Museum, Calumet Sporting Events, Faith Lutheran Church and more!
Kassy Kallio
November 2023 - Photographer for Local Schools
It warms my heart to see the action shots but also the camaraderie behind the scenes and Kassy captures that for all of us out of the goodness of her heart.
Puti Akbar
October 2023 - Portage Lake District Library
Most of Puti's work involves reading and literacy. She volunteers at the Portage Lake District Library with social media, programming, networking and more. She has even founded her own library in Indonesia to combat literacy issues.
Jen Shaud
September 2023
When it comes to Equipment Loans of the Keweenaw, Jen does just about everything: funding, paperwork, marketing, organizing and participating. Jen has dedicated hours of her life to bringing adaptive sports opportunities to the Copper Country.
Dave Saunders
August 2023
Dave helps set up for our Chassell Congregate Site every Monday and Wednesday. No matter the weather, Dave is there year round to make coffee and set the table for all of our congregate site attendees.
Wendy Mattlock
June 2023
Wendy has volunteered with us since 1992. She has been dedicated to our cause against domestic violence throughout all these years and her calming presence with our residents and willingness to listen is a positive attribute to her volunteer work with our agency!
Amy Schneiderhan
May 2023
Before joining the Laurium Village Council, Amy had been planting flowers in downtown Laurium for years as a resident. Amy volunteered her time and money to make the village shine with beautiful flowers during peak season.
Patrick Diedrich
April 2023
Patrick volunteers his time to train outside the area and bring it back to the team, and during several missing person searches focused his knowledge on building search tactics that helped make searches successful.
John Diebel
March 2023
John has shown that he does what is best for the community through his volunteering efforts, including amazing work for both the Keweenaw Nordic Ski Club and the City of Hancock, where he sits on several committees and was vital to the opening and maintaining of the new Dog Park.
Nathan Stockton
February 2023
Nathan Stockton takes his volunteering seriously with the Pelkie Volunteer Fire Department and on the Search and Rescue team. He does all of the required ongoing training and practice to make sure he is serving Baraga County to the max.
Emily Kendel Frusti
January 2023
Emily is a dedicated community member that is passionate about suicide prevention and awareness, especially for young people. She is an advocate for mental health and breaking the stigma that surrounds suicide and prevention of it.
Angie Van Tassel
December 2022
When moving to the Copper Country with her husband and 4 boys in the 80s Angie taught Lamaze childbirth education classes for young parents. Later, she initiated and coordinated a high school completion program for pregnant and parenting teen parents from local school districts.
Jim Tervo
November 2022 - Community Volunteer
Jim is a key volunteer in our community, tied to many different organizations and events, many of those centered around making physical activity more accessible and fun, such as Chassell Ski Trails, Great Bear Chase and Canal Run!
Doug Wyble
October 2022 - Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly
Doug Wyble has been a staple with the Firewood Program at Little Brothers - Friends of the Elderly since 2018 volunteering more than 1,000 hours in that time. He has a contagious and motivating personality that brings out the best in those around him. His work includes making firewood deliveries to elderly, splitting and stacking firewood, overseeing volunteer groups, cutting logs to firewood length, picking up wood donations, helping elderly stack their firewood & cutting elderlies firewood to length at their homes.
Carol (Grandma) Jones
September 2022 - Horizons Alternative High Schools
Carol (Grandma) Jones has taught us that every student has potential. With patience and compassion, she has helped many students gain a diploma, a feat that even they never thought possible. She is an absolute blessing to our school!
Ben Ciavola
August 2022 - Copper Harbor Trails Club
Ben has been dedicated to the Copper Harbor Trails Club for many years. In his prior role as President, he led the organization to huge growth, both in terms of trail mileage and event participation. More people than ever are using our trails because of his vision. Ben has done an excellent job at keeping things organized and professional at each and every step. Copper Harbor Trails Club is a leader in this initiative in Michigan and it would not have been possible without his passionate efforts to keep our trail users safe.
David Luoma
July 2022 - Calumet Township Volunteer Fire Department
David spends countless hours at the fire station making sure the trucks are cleaned and the equipment is in operational order when needed. He represents the department in local community events such as our school fire prevention program, Camp 911 and numerous parades. He is a true example of an amazing volunteer.