The goal of the awards is to honor individuals in Pitkin County for their outstanding service, leadership and civic involvement. There are several award categories including: Children and Youth, Seniors, Health, Community Pride, Education, Good Samaritan, Centennial, Environment, Rising Stars to recognize youth and the Greg Mace Award in memory of the late lifelong volunteer Greg Mace.
Award Winners through the years: Pitkin County Cares Winners.pdf
2011 Award Winners
Children/Youth: Nancy Oden for serving as volunteer director of the Aspen Music Festival lemonade stand for over 20 years, 43,000 hours, 200,000 cups of lemonade, 90,000 muffins and 130, 000 cookies. The money raised from the stand, estimated in the thousands of dollars annually, benefits the MAA scholarship fund.
Children/Youth: Brooks Bryant for helping Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club student athletes juggle athletics and school work. Bryant is the student liaison for Aspen High School athletes who are falling behind in school.
Senior Citizens: Bea Haggerty for voluntarily cutting hair for the elderly residents of Whitcomb Terrace for over 20 years. Haggerty makes "hair cutting day" a social event with conversation, emotional support, and individual attention for seniors living in senior housing.
Health: Bobbi Seelenfreund for her volunteer work coordinating craft activities for the cancer-stricken children of the Shining Stars Foundation and for her support and nurturing of families dealing with cancer through the Your Friends for Life program.
Community Pride: Paul Rudnick for his dedicated service to the Pitkin County Planning and Zoning Commission for eight years. A retired litigator, he has been helpful to the commission in dealing with sometimes "tricky" procedural issues.
Education: Stacey Greene, Lynne Seeman, and Gyles Thornely for their tireless work for the past three years designing, raising funds and building the new Aspen Elementary School playground, in addition to countless hours of additional volunteering in the school.
Good Samaritan: Leigh Guilfoyle for going above and beyond the call of duty as a bus driver for RFTA when he helped an elderly passenger carrying groceries make a taxi connection home. He paid for the taxi rather than have her wait a long time at the bus stop for the next bus.
Environment: Mary Kueneman for her passion for pulling noxious weeds around the county. Known as the "weed warrior" she has delighted the Weed Advisory Board with her enthusiasm and energy for ridding our area of noxious weeds.
Rising Star: Covington Pearson for volunteering at the Pitkin County Senior Center doing everything from bussing tables to befriending some of the seniors there. This 13 year old lad is hard-working, considerate, and focused and is already making a difference in the world.