BELLOWS FALLS — Steve Crofter, Laurel Green, and Grace Waryas are the recipients of the Greater Falls Connections (GFC) Active Community Engagement (ACE) Award for 2022. The awards were presented during the organization's annual meeting on Wednesday, July 27, at the Rockingham Recreation Center in Bellows Falls.
The ACE Award, according to GFC, “recognizes inspired, positive action happening every day in the community. 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.”
Crofter and Green, Bellows Falls residents, were nominated by Michelle Bos-Lun for the adult or organization award.
“I have known them for years, but recently we worked together to welcome an asylum-seeking couple from Afghanistan to Bellows Falls for half a year,” Bos-Lun said in their nomination. “Steve and Laurel spent immeasurable hours befriending and supporting a couple from Afghanistan, and supporting the team that they helped form and support called RARR (Rockingham Area Refugee Resettlement) group.
“During the COVID-19 shutdown, Laurel rallied community members to form Rockingham Help and Helpers, an amazing group of volunteers that rose up to meet the needs [of the community]. Laurel also heads up Sustainable Rockingham to address the impact of climate change,” she continued.
Waryas, a Bellows Falls Union High School student, was nominated by Sam Maskell for the youth award.
“Grace has been willing to stand up for human rights. Often treated and spoken to terribly by adults in positions of power, she has not backed down,” Maskell said of Waryas in her nomination.
The ACE Award is sponsored by Greater Falls Connections, whose vision is to build a healthy, nurturing and supportive community. For more information about GFC, to make a donation, or find out how to volunteer, visit greaterfallsconnections.org.