City of Santa Rosa Announces 2024 Merit Awards Winners

The City of Santa Rosa has selected 11 extraordinary individuals and organizations to receive the 2024 Merit Awards, acknowledging their outstanding volunteerism in serving the community and improving the quality of life in Santa Rosa. This year marks the 42nd Merit Awards presentation, to be held on Monday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m. at Finley Community Center.

Recipients of the City's Merit Awards are nominated by the community and selected by the Merit Awards Committee. The Mayor and City Council members will join the Committee in presenting the awards on Monday evening. Those to be recognized in five categories include:

Cultural Enrichment

• Spring Maxfield for her volunteer efforts as the founder of Santa Rosa Urban Arts Partnership and its dedication to creating spaces for community-led arts and cultural initiatives.
• Luther Burbank Home and Gardens Volunteers for their exceptional commitment to upholding the Burbank Garden and enhancing the cultural heritage of Santa Rosa.

Environmental Sustainability

• Aaron Boice for his commendable eight years of volunteer service dedicated to creek cleanup within the Russian River Watershed.

Serving Others

• Cannon Meiers for his exceptional dedication to community service through your 10 years of volunteer work for the Secret Santa Program.
• Leah Carroll for her outstanding volunteer work with multiple organizations, including the Charles Schultz Museum, Forget Me Not Farms, Special Olympics, Best Buddies, and Run for Alzheimer's.
• Minerva Haddad for her extensive volunteer work crafting 4,500 teddy bears for children undergoing medical treatment at Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health hospitals.
• Tracy Hinman for outstanding volunteer service dedicated to the Medical Equipment Recycling Program.

Strengthening Neighborhoods

• Chad Hunt and Juan Chavez for their commendable volunteer contributions in fostering community cohesion as the creators of the popular weekly Taco Tuesday Rides.

Community Heroes

• Joshua Carroll for his exceptional service to Santa Rosa youth as a volunteer coach for the Sonoma Hawks wheelchair basketball team.
• Bill Montgomery for his exceptional volunteer work over the decades, including the founding the Rural Cemetery Preservation Committee and volunteering in various other initiatives such as Bennet Valley Vision, Friends of Prince Memorial Greenway, and the Santa Rosa Recreation & Parks History Tours.

The 2024 Merit Awards presentation will be a ceremony and celebration for the awardees, their invited guests, and all members of the community. Visit SRCity.org/MeritAwards following the ceremony to view photographs and a video recording of the awards ceremony, and for more information about each of this year's award recipients.

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