Five volunteers received the Gold award for volunteering more than 500 hours at the Bellevue Botanical Garden last year. They include Nancy Daar (700 hours), Jan Lyon (720 hours), Dallas Graham (1,032 hours), Ruth Edwards (1,151 hours) and Sharon Graham (1,259 hours). Sharon Graham also received the President’s Call to Service award, the highest level of recognition, for serving 5,342 hours over several years for the Garden.

The 79 recipients come from nine programs: Eastside Amateur Radio Support (EARS), Fire Department Chaplain, Mediation, Master Naturalist Program, Canoe the Slough, Youth Link, Aquatics, Highland Community Center and the Botanical Garden. The Botanical Garden had 60 honorees.

The city has an active volunteer program. In 2011, more than 5,790 volunteers served 121,641 hours in 48 citywide volunteer programs, providing an estimated $2.8 million worth of labor.

For information about volunteer opportunities, go to www.bellevuewa.gov/volunteer.htm and click on the Community Volunteering Guide. To volunteer with the City of Bellevue, contact Shelly at 425-452-5375 or Volunteer@BellevueWa.Gov.