DeDe Williams has been cooking healthy meals for hungry volunteers for six years as a volunteer Crew Chef with Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC). During that time, she has given more than 1,000 hours in volunteer service, and fed thousands of volunteers. Williams’ dedication won her VOC’s 2013 “Volunteer of the Year” leadership award.

Williams was among seven award winners announced by VOC in late November, all recognized for their leadership in motivating and enabling people to become active stewards of Colorado’s natural resources. Award winners were nominated by their peers.

“As a volunteer organization that engages thousands of volunteers every year, strong leaders are essential to the work we do at Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. We are incredibly fortunate to have many outstanding leaders who volunteer their time teaching youth, leading volunteer crews, feeding volunteers, and more. We extend our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of them,” said Ann Baker Easley, Executive Director for Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado.

The award winners are:

Extremely passionate about caring for Colorado’s outdoors, DeDe Williams has been volunteering with VOC since 2008. Her contributions as a volunteer Crew Chef on 46 VOC outdoor stewardship projects have been invaluable. In addition to providing healthy meals to volunteers in project locations across the state, Williams has helped train several new VOC Crew Chefs and expand the team’s skills. Williams lives in Highlands Ranch.

George Schamel has been a VOC volunteer since 2004. In 2012, he became a Certified VOC Crew Leader and has led volunteer crews on 25 stewardship projects, equating to hundreds of hours of volunteer service. Volunteers and leaders alike commend Schamel’s ability to lead, mentor, and motivate volunteers in rewarding stewardship work. Schamel lives in Conifer.

From the moment he began volunteering with VOC, David Riter’s contributions have been extensive. Since his first volunteer project in 2012, Riter has participated in 41 stewardship projects, and became trained and certified in multiple volunteer leadership roles. Riter’s kindness, upbeat attitude, and patient leadership have earned him much respect. Riter lives in Monument.

At age 18, Suzanne Steele has already proven to be a strong leader in outdoor leadership and is a role model for future young leaders throughout the state. As a participant in VOC’s Cairn High School Youth Program and as a volunteer Crew Leader she has demonstrated dedication to caring for Colorado’s outdoors and a strong spirit of volunteerism. Suzanne lives in Denver.

Allison Stewart has been a dedicated supporter of VOC for many years. Most recently, she has served as a Mentor in VOC’s Cairn Youth Program, an outdoor stewardship leadership program for High School Youth. Stewart’s passion for helping youth become outdoor stewardship leaders is evident in the positive and encouraging relationships she has developed with Cairn students. Allison lives in Boulder.

The Coalition for the Upper South Platte (CUSP), located in Lake George, is a nonprofit stewardship partner focused on protecting the water quality and ecologic health of the Upper South Platte Watershed. VOC and CUSP began partnering on fire restoration efforts in June 2012. Since then, VOC and CUSP collaborated on five stewardship projects in Waldo Canyon, providing opportunities for nearly 400 volunteers and contributing over 3,500 hours of fire restoration work.

Erik Nilsen is a Natural Resource Specialist with the City of Lakewood and has worked closely with VOC since 2007. Over that time, VOC and Nilsen have engaged more than 550 volunteers in stewarding City of Lakewood parks. Nilsen is also a certified outdoor stewardship instructor with VOC’s training program, the Outdoor Stewardship Institute.