Bev Jorgensen honored as North Bend Citizen of the Year

North Bend celebrated its 2016 Citizen of the Year, Bev Jorgensen, last Tuesday, as part of the March 7 North Bend City Council meeting.

The Mount Si Senior Center conference room, filled with officials as well as Jorgensen’s family and friends erupted in applause and a standing ovation for Jorgensen, after Mayor Ken Hearing read the following:

“The Citizen of the Year award is meant to be given to an individual or business that has gone above and beyond to make North Bend a better place to live, through professional or volunteer efforts, or by an extraordinary contribution to the community.

We want to honor those who have shown, through their initiative and actions that they truly care about the community and whose hard work, spirit and dedication make our community great.

While reviewing the nominations, one person stood out as deserving special recognition not just for her work in 2016, but for her work in the past several years.

I have known this year’s recipient for many years and witnessed the difference she has made to our community through her involvement in many community activities by donating her time, knowledge, and support.

Prior to her move to North Bend, she was a youth group leader at her local church. There she cooked for countless work parties as the community rebuilt their church. She also volunteered at her church’s food bank.

In 1987, her family moved to North Bend and in 1992 she started as a substitute teacher with the Snoqualmie Valley School District. By 1993, she became a full time support employee for the special education program at Mount Si High School where she worked in classrooms helping students who needed that little extra push. Later she worked with students in the high school’s Transitional Learning Center, helping older students between the ages of 18 and 21 get ready for adult life.

Her additional activities and accomplishments — some of them, I’m sure I don’t know them all — include:

• She was a member of Snoqualmie Valley Women in Business when it first started;

• Volunteer with Festival at Mount Si (formerly known as Alpine Days);

• Adopting families for Christmas, providing gifts and meals;

• Holding an annual Christmas open house in her home, along with a food drive;

• Snoqualmie Valley Soccer representative for five years;

• Coached Mount Si High School boys and girls soccer C teams;

• Hosts the annual neighborhood 4th of July breakfast at her home;

• Joined our Snoqualmie Valley Relay for Life in 2006, walking and supporting teams, then becoming active on the Luminaria Committee, serving as chair for four years before moving into her current position as Relay chairperson, which she has held for 6 years;

• In August, 2012 during the Taylor Bridge Wildfire in Cle Elum, a family of five with three small children were displaced from their home, and without hesitation she immediately went into action and hosted a fundraiser dinner at her house to help the family.

Her ability to network and connect those in need for various situations is amazing. And most recently she became a life coach.

We are grateful for her generous heart and all that she has accomplished as she has impacted and enriched our lives. I am extremely honored and pleased to name the North Bend 2016 Citizen of the Year, Bev Jorgensen.”

Brushing away tears and laughing as her son Vaughn, wheeled her to the podium to accept the award, Jorgensen who is recovering from a bout with cancer, was surprised and grateful.

“Let me just thank everybody, thank you all… I was here last year accepting this plaque for our Relay for Life family, and we’re all very proud of that,” she said. “You all mean so much to me. I do what I do because I love my community and you’re all a part of it — and please join Relay!”