High school volunteer earns United Way award usually reserved for long-timers 

 
March 8, 2010 – The annual Volunteer of the Year Award from United Way of Weld County usually goes to adults, but this year Greeley West High School senior Dylan Bohlender is showing how young people can make a difference too.
 
Dylan was recently told by United Way staff members to check his mail for something important. When the official notice arrived, telling him he would be honored with the 2009 award at the annual United Way Celebration of Excellence luncheon, Dylan couldn’t believe it. “This award is typically given to people with 30 years of volunteer experience,” he said. “I was just kind of incredulous.”
 
The Live United Celebration of Excellence luncheon will be from noon-1:30 p.m., on March 12, at the University of Northern Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Ballroom in the University Center. Award of Excellence winners will include the agency of the year and the community partner of the year, along with Dylan’s volunteer of the year award.
 
 
Much of Dylan’s work has been with the Youth Allocation Committee, which is led by student volunteers who decide how to spend the money collected in student fundraisers throughout the county. Each student on the committee is assigned to research and review agencies that are requesting funding. Each student typically spends one to two hours touring the agency’s facilities, speaking with staff members there and learning how the operation works – how effective it is in providing aid and how that effectiveness is measured. After students have made their visits, they gather to decide together how to allocate the funds.
 
Elizabeth Barber, homeless liaison for the Greeley Dream Team  and former director of resource investment for United Way of Weld County, worked with Dylan on the Youth Allocation Committee. “He is an absolutely dynamic young man,” she said. “He has a presence about him and a maturity that enables him to work with kids, teachers, the elderly, you name it. 
 
“He’s a genuine, caring, analytical thinker,” she said. “He takes his time to make sure everything is done right.
 
Even though the Youth Allocation Committee is generally reserved for junior and seniors, Dylan has served for four years, and was the chairman for his sophomore and junior years. He also has been instrumental in United Way fundraising efforts at Greeley West, volunteers at the United Way office in downtown Greeley every summer, and spoke to eighth graders about volunteering during a Junior Leadership Weld County session. He does all of this while also being involved in West’s student council, Interact, National Honor Society, and LINK Crew, as well as taking International Baccalaureate classes (and all the extra homework that entails). With all of these responsibilities and activities, he has worked his way to the top of his class and will be one of six co-valedictorians when he graduates in May.
 
Volunteering has always made a difference in Dylan’s own approach to school. “You start to see the relevance of things that otherwise might not have the least bit of interest for you in school and you think ‘Hey, maybe they’re not just spitting hot air,’” he said with wry smile.
 
Applying himself in school has never been an issue for Dylan. In fact, he’s so busy, some may wonder how he stays centered. His answer is simple: ice hockey. “That’s my release,” he said. “I take out my teenage angst on unsuspecting people from the other team.” And when he’s done crashing the boards at the Greeley Ice Haus, he can walk half a block down the street to go back to helping at the United Way offices.
 
“There’s this feeling that you get when you volunteer that I can’t fully articulate,” Dylan said. “But just knowing that these dollars are benefitting someone is so important. I guess that’s why I’m sort of addicted to it.”
 
Dylan got involved in volunteering when he started working on smaller-scale projects for the National Junior Honor Society at Heath Middle School, then with the Builders Club, which he described as a precursor to Key Club. He said his parents helped motivate him. “They said since I was involved in only two sports, I needed more, so I got involved in volunteering and fell in love with it.”
 
With his involvement with the Youth Allocation Committee, Dylan has worked with numerous community agencies, including: A Kid’s Place, A Woman’s Place, Boy Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Clubs of Weld County, c.a.r.e., Eldergarden, First Steps, Greeley Transitional House, Meals on Wheels, North Range Behavioral Health, RVNA, Youth & Family Connections, and Weld Food Bank.
 
That is where Dylan’s leadership skills shine through. Barber said the Youth Allocation Committee had existed for years before Dylan joined, but never had a chairperson. The adults who helped guide the students agreed a chairperson was necessary; Dylan accepted that role and ran with it, according to Barber. In fact when the time came in his first year as chairman to present the committee’s recommendations to the United Way board of directors, Dylan stood before 25 local power brokers – attorneys, county commissioners, bankers and civic officials – and confidently made his presentation with such professionalism and conviction that he received two “when you’re ready” job offers from local bankers afterward.
 
“It’s a cliché to say ‘youth are our future,’ but he has roots here and will certainly continue working to help Greeley for many years,” Barber said.
 
Dylan plans to study business at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Already an experienced data cruncher and computer analyst, he said he has appreciated the opportunities he has had with United Way to learn aspects of the business community while using his drive to help others. “This has given me a lot more interest in business,” he said. “I get to see how 501(c)3 organizations work, how they take surpluses and put them back into the community. It’s not only that you’re getting to help people, but you can apply the skills you learn in a lot of different contexts.”
 
And just because he’s going off to college does not mean his time serving the community will be put on hold. “I will doubtlessly figure out ways to get involved in Boulder and, of course, stay involved in Greeley in the summer,” he said. “I’m just really thankful to United Way for the opportunity.”