Christine Versaw is 2025 Do-Gooder of the Year!
Falling on National Volunteer Week, a major focus for Do Good Days is volunteerism. According to Volunteer Iowa reports, Iowa ranks in the top 10 states for volunteering. In 2023, more than 900,000 residents volunteered through an organization, contributing $1.5 billion in economic value. Volunteering is important to our nonprofit organizations and the communities we serve.
SHARE Iowa, an initiative of the Community Foundation for Western Iowa, presented the third annual “Do-Gooder of the Year” award. All nonprofit organizations participating on the SHARE Iowa platform were encouraged to nominate their volunteers or “Do-Gooders” of the year. This year, nearly 20 nominations were reviewed, and Christine Versaw was awarded this year’s Do-Gooder of the Year award.
Bridgette Watson, Executive Director at the Council Bluffs Schools Foundation, and submitted the nomination, states, “Christine loves kids and supporting schools. While she is generous with her treasures, she is also generous with her time. Christine thinks about the kids every time she leaves the house. While at the store, she'll see things on sale that could be used in a classroom, and she picks it up. For example, she found chalk on sale and brought it to the office for the kids at the Early Learning Center. She also visits garage sales, where she sorts through thousands of books each spring/summer/fall to find gently used books to gift to kids that helps them build their at-home libraries. We distribute these books to our kids at Kids & Company and at some of our high-risk schools. She doesn't log her hours with us, so it's hard to know how much time she spends finding things for kids, but she's delivered thousands of books to our office and countless school supplies.”
SHARE Iowa is a dynamic online resource for our nonprofit partners that helps them to better reach and engage with people who want to have an impact into their community by donating dollars, shopping from nonprofit wish lists and registries, attending events, or discovering volunteer opportunities. Donna Dostal, CEO of the Community Foundation for Western Iowa, states “We created the Do-Gooder award to honor and recognize the amazing individuals like Christine who give of their time, talents, and treasures, to make a difference in other people’s lives and our community. Christine epitomizes a ‘Do-Gooder’ and is making a lasting impact in the lives of the children in Council Bluffs. We are honored to recognize her efforts.”
