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Four Vermont teens are up for United Way of Chittenden County’s biggest volunteerism award.

Aubrey Brueckner, Livia Hirsch, Sam Rowell and Devon Govett have been nominated for the annual Hometown Hero Award.

“This is a way of honoring some outstanding community volunteers who do so much to make this a truly caring community,” said Andrea Houlihan, programs coordinator for United Way of Chittenden County’s volunteer center.

Houlihan said the United Way gives out many awards on a rolling basis, but the Hometown Hero award is “the big one.”

Brueckner, 18, was nominated for her efforts with Treats for Our Troops. Brueckner coordinated the project during her senior year at South Burlington High School, sending nearly 500 care packages to Vermont troops in Afghanistan. 

 “I see volunteering as an opportunity to give back to the community that I came from and to set a good example for the next generation of young adults,” she wrote in an e-mail to Firefly. “Volunteering can be a life changing experience.”

She said the experience helped her find her personal strengths –and weaknesses—and helped her realize that she wanted to teach.

Rowell, 17, has been involved with Essex CHIPS, a community coalition and youth center, since he was in middle school. Most recently, he has been helping plan youth events and is on the board of directors.

 Rowell said he got involved because the staff is “the greatest bunch of people,” he said.

“I love that feeling you get when you know you’ve really touched someone’s life or helped them when they needed it,” he said. “I don’t know how many people know how good it feels to go volunteer.”

Govett, 17, spent many of his weekend and evening hours this spring working to streamline his school’s fundraising process, helping it save money and paper. He built an entire online auction website for the school.

“I guess I started by wanting to cut down paper use, then, I don’t know, I just got hooked,” he said. “I like doing work for other people and helping people out, especially a school where I’ve been for my whole life, and I feel like I can give something back.”

Hirsch, 13, has been volunteering with her mom at the Humane Society nearly every Saturday for a year. She walks dogs, socializes cats, cleans the shelter and does laundry and dishes.

Hirsch said she first got involved because her mom wanted her to “get out of the house more,” she said. Since she liked animals, she chose the shelter.

“If you find something you like to do, it can end up being pretty fun,” she said.

Houlihan said volunteering helps people make connections, learn new skills, better their communities and feel good about themselves.

“There are so many reasons to volunteer,” she said. “Most people find that no matter how much they put into volunteering, what they get out of it is 10 times more.”

Rowell took it a step further.

“It’s just part of what it means to be human,” he said. “You need to help out.”

To see volunteering opportunities near you, visit www.unitedwaycc.org.

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