Bonnie Anderson and Hailee Galandak-Cochran Earn “Unsung Hero” Title!
In an effort to recognize the inspired, positive action happening every day in the community, Greater Falls Connections (GFC) is excited to announce that both Bonnie Anderson and Hailee Galandak-Cochran have earned the 2018 Active Community Engagement (A.C.E.) Award. Recipients of this award are the unsung heroes within our community who foster positive change and are dedicated to creating safe, healthy and fun options for youth, families and the community at large. The awards were presented by the staff members of Greater Falls Connections, Laura Schairbaum, Deb Witkus, and Scott Sharland, at the Annual GFC BBQ on August 2 at the Rockingham Recreation Center.
Anderson, the Founder and Executive Director of the BF Community Bike Project, has been providing fun and community-oriented activities for both youth and adults since 2012. She is also a Planning Commissioner for the town of Rockingham. The mission of the Bike Project is to provide community access to bicycles and bike repair skills, encouraging safe bicycling as a means of affordable transportation, self-sufficiency and overall wellness.
Former A.C.E. winner Mike Malick nominated Anderson for the award. According to Malick, “Bonnie has been helping all kinds of people, and she has helped many people get active. She has taken her time to develop a program that reaches out to many of the folks in the area who have no money and she helps them with a simple thing, ‘Transportation in the means of a bike.’ This makes people feel they belong.”
Anderson was also nominated in 2017 by Ellen Taetzsch, who said, “I see her everywhere. She always has a smile, is willing to help out with community events, and she is a great role model!”
Galandak-Cochran is the Director and AmeriCorps member of the Friends For Change youth group of Bellows Falls. She was nominated by Marty Gallagher, Kara Lescord, Kiernon Galandak, and Susan Williams. Friends for Change is a youth club that, “believes everyone’s voice has a right to be heard. We learn by playing and making our own decisions. We are active in our community and are learning to become positive leaders.”
Gallagher said, “Hailee saw a need in the community and addressed it. When Boys and Girls club pulled their funding for the Bellows Falls group she saw that there was still a need in this community for the youth to have a safe space. Starting from scratch, she built Friends For Change. She engaged the help of others, got the kids themselves on board, and created a new and very unique non-profit. She made it look easy and never seemed to lose her drive to reach her goal. All the while going to school and working. She seems to have an endless drive. I think she fully embodied all that the ACE award entails.”
Galandak-Cochran has volunteered for the GFC coalition for several years. She helps facilitate the weekly AATI (Advanced Above The Influence) youth group meetings and has helped members learn more about youth-led, democratic organizations. Following the closure of the Bellows Falls Boys & Girls Club in June 2016, Galandak-Cochran put in an immeasurable number of volunteer hours to help create the Friends For Change (FFC) youth group, which has resulted in a number of great leadership opportunities for youth in our community, especially youth who have faced trauma.
During the presentation of the award, a number of youth and community members who have been affected by Anderson and Galandak-Cochran’s work spoke about the impact on their lives. Dan Gabry, youth leader at Friends for Change and AATI member, said, “They are both intelligent and they both deserve this award.”
There were a record eight nominees for this year’s award, and Galandak-Cochran and Anderson rose to the top, based on the voting of former ACE Award winners and GFC staff members. The other worthy nominees were Linda James, Superintendent Chris Kibbe, Molly Oglesby, Officer Josh Paulette, John Bohannon, and Principal Keith Nemlich. The efforts of these community members has made the Greater Falls area a better place to live.
Galandak-Cochran and Anderson join Sam Fletcher, Sam Maskell, Christine Bullard, Barbara Ternes, Ryan Stoodley, Mike Malick, and Gina DeCampo as A.C.E. Award winners.