Douglas County employees and volunteers received special recognition Monday for their work last year in Gulf Coast states hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The President’s Call to Service Award was presented to Truman “Bud” Waugh, a volunteer for Douglas County Emergency Management. The award goes to volunteers who provide 4,000 hours of service in a lifetime.

“He far exceeds the 4,000 hours it takes to receive the award,” said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, Kansas adjutant general, who oversees state emergency management efforts.

Others receiving certificates or pins for hurricane relief last year were: Teri Smith, emergency management assistant director; Jim Denney, director of the 911 emergency communications center; Bill Brubaker, former emergency management employee and now emergency management coordinator for northeast Kansas; Mike Perkins, director of Public Works operations division; and dispatchers Jim Ramsey and Amy Johnson.

Bunting presented the awards during the Douglas County Commission meeting.