For years, Valerie Wright has volunteered her time with the Giant’s Head School Breakfast Club, the Summerland Asset Development Initiative’s Fruit Tree Project and other efforts. On Saturday, the efforts were recognized as she was named Summerland’s Citizen/Volunteer of the Year.
The other nominee for the award was David Gregory, who has been active in promoting and recording local history.
Wright said her community involvement is a way of expressing appreciation to the community.
“I feel truly blessed to be able to serve this community I love so much,” she said. “This is such a great town. You want to do what you can to make it the best place.”
The Breakfast Club for Learning provides meals to any student at the school. It has been in place for the past 12 years. At present, the program feeds between 60 and 70 students a day.
Because attendance has been increasing, the school will expand its kitchen to accommodate the number of students in the program.
Nesters Market, the sponsor of the award, is also a sponsor of the breakfast program.
Wright said receiving the award from Nesters Market manager Leann Sieben made it special.