The Riverside County Board of Supervisors earlier this month celebrated five volunteers and two nonprofits for their contributions to their communities.

“Volunteer of the Year is a program that I started when I came on board here, because I am an avid supporter of nonprofit organizations and volunteer organizations,” Supervisor Karen Spiegel said at the April 15 meeting. “They are what give us, as government agencies, the opportunity to have people volunteer and fill gaps that we just can’t reach.”

District 1

In District 1, Supervisor Jose Medina said he received not one, but two separate nominations for Aydin Mallery, highlighting his passion for civic engagement, social justice and community empowerment.

“Aydin is a dedicated advocate for his community, and a shining example of what it means to give back,” Medina said. “After graduating from Pitzer College last year, he returned home to Riverside, not to rest, but to get back to work.”

Mallery provides pro bono legal support with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles to low income community members across the Inland Empire to access housing and secure employment, has assisted the Riverside City Council with its civic engagement efforts and recently began volunteering with the Riverside Art Museum helping to restore the Harada House.

“Throughout all of his efforts, Aydin uplifts unrepresented voices, preserves our shared history and creates space for young people to participate in our government and civic life,” Medina said. “Your work is an inspiration to us all. You remind us that leadership is not about titles, it’s about action, about heart and about showing up for your community.”

District 2

For District 2, Spiegel honored an individual who she said was nominated by the city of Lake Elsinore, Joshua Pope.

“That really touched all of our hearts,” Spiegel said. “We had numerous [nominees] and we kept going through ties and [had to] break it, but this young man does an amazing job.”

Pope gives back to his community by cleaning facilities and doing other such tasks throughout the city, its community centers and senior centers.

“He primarily is cleaning and sanitizing tables and just [does] all kinds of stuff that people who get paid don’t like doing, but he enjoys it,” Spiegel said. “He does it with vigor.”

Spiegel also honored the nonprofit Bicycles for Children, started by teacher John White more than a decade ago.

“The goal was to donate five bicycles to each of the elementary schools in my district, so 155 bicycles,” White said. “I wanted those bicycles to go to impoverished children whose parents wouldn’t be able to afford a bicycle as kind of a Christmas present.”

That first year, the organization was able to provide 196 bicycles for children in the Corona-Norco Unified School District.

“It was going to be just really a one-year plan, but it turned out so well that the program has continued to grow,” White said.

Over the last two years, the program has expanded to serve five full school districts and parts of many others, White said. Since its inception, the program has given away more than 10,000 bikes to children in Riverside County.

District 3

In District 3, Supervisor Chuck Washington honored his longtime friend Judy Zulfiqar, governor of Rotary District 5330, which represents more than 1,800 Rotarians across Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

“Under her leadership, District 5330 has significantly expanded its youth development efforts, annually sponsoring more than 450 high school juniors to attend the Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, RYLA, and 280 seventh grade students to leadership camp,” Washington said. “Rotary [District] 5330 was instrumental in distributing hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships to graduating seniors, providing transformative opportunities for young people throughout the region.”

Washington also honored local nonprofit Western Eagle Foundation as part of the annual recognition.

“Western Eagle Foundation, under the leadership of the Sieja family, has been a pillar of hope and sustenance in Riverside County by providing food boxes to the public seven days a week,” Washington said. “The foundation’s emergency food bag program benefits more than 400 families each month, and their food box program feeds 14,400 families annually making a true difference in their lives.”

The nonprofit, established in 1993, is dedicated to ensuring that no baby, child, family, military member, senior or veteran goes hungry by providing emergency food bags as part of its food pantry efforts, a weekly food bank that supports other local food pantry programs, customized food boxes and work development.

“We’re just very grateful to still be here today and to be able to help serve those in need,” Savannah Sieja said.

District 4

District 4 Supervisor V. Manuel Perez honored volunteer Patrick Evans, KESQ’s chief meteorologist.

“Over the years that I’ve known this man right here, through thick and thin, through my political career, over 20 years, Patrick has been one individual that whenever I go to different events, no matter where they are in the Coachella Valley, guess who’s there? Patrick Evans,” Perez said. “And he does it in his own way. He volunteers by MCing events, he volunteers by judging, he volunteers by showing up on an ongoing basis, and he’s done that throughout the valley more so than anyone else that I know that works for any other news station back home.”

Perez said that there were many people whose names were floated for the award, but at the end of the day, honoring his good friend Evans’ commitment to always showing up for the community was important.

“I felt it was important that he get this recognition,” Perez said. “For me this cycle, it was very important, second to none, that my good friend here, my good buddy who never asks for anything in return, who never asks for some sort of paycheck, [be recognized].”

District 5

The final honoree of the morning was Herminia Sharp, who Supervisor Yxstian Gutierrez said gives back to the community through the nonprofit Valley Community Pantry.

“This is an organization that really gives back to many people that are either homeless or at risk of being homeless and need food,” Gutierrez said. “This individual has really stepped up in so many different ways, and when the committee reviewed the applications, we were really amazed by what she did.”

During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Sharp continued to volunteer at the pantry, making sure people in the San Jacinto Valley area had access to food.

“She really is the testament of compassion, love and service above self,” Gutierrez said.

Sharp said she was humbled by the board’s recognition.

“I never ever thought about recognition or anything,” she said. “I just wanted to do something good that makes me feel good, and believe me, every day I go home, I’m happy because I had that opportunity.”