Every spring, Marie Galluzzi-Potter enjoys one of the most rewarding volunteer jobs she’s ever had.

As part of the selection team for the United Way of Douglas County’s Wallace Galluzzi Volunteer of the Year Award, she pours over a stack of nomination forms, reading about the personal sacrifice, passion for purpose and hours dedicated by the volunteers chosen for the award by the nonprofits where they serve. This year, 27 volunteers will receive special honors during the United Way’s Celebration of Volunteers, which will be held on Tuesday at Haskell Indian Nations University.

“Most organizations couldn’t keep going if they didn’t have volunteers,” Galluzzi-Potter said. “They provide so many extra hours of work, out of the goodness of their hearts. They are just tremendous. I really want to honor the people of Douglas County who do so much for others.”

Now in its 30th year, the Wallace Galluzzi Outstanding Volunteer Award was established by the United Way in 1985 to honor Galluzzi-Potter’s late husband, Wally, a United Way volunteer, the first president of what was then known as Haskell Indian Junior College and a persuasive advocate for volunteerism in Douglas County.

Marie Galluzzi-Potter is among those who pours over a stack of nomination forms each spring to select the winner of the Wallace Galluzzi Outstanding Volunteer Award, established to honor Galluzzi-Potter’s late husband, Wally.

Galluzzi was a larger-than-life character, one of those gregarious, fun-loving people about whom everyone has a story. One of the best is how he happened into his 33-year career with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. After graduating from Slippery Rock College in Pennsylvania in 1949, Galluzzi and some buddies took off on an adventure to see the United States. By the time they reached Bismark, N.D., they were broke.

Galluzzi wandered into the state education office looking for a job, and the school administrator from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in Fort Yates, N.D., just happened to be there, hiring teachers. Galluzzi was offered a position as a coach and teacher at the high school, and he headed for Fort Yates that day.

During his time at Standing Rock, he had the chance to coach his basketball team to the 1954 state championship and to meet Galluzzi-Potter, who is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. The two were married in 1954 and had four children.

The Galluzzi family came to Lawrence in 1963 when Galluzzi joined the staff of Haskell, where he served as president from 1970 to 1981. Galluzzi died in 1984, at the age of 57. Galluzzi-Potter married Donald Potter in 1994, and he died in 2014.

In addition to helping organize the Celebration of Volunteers every year, Galluzzi-Potter is also an avid community volunteer herself. After Galluzzi’s death, she formed the Lawrence Region Men and Women Widowed Group and led it for seven years, on top of working five jobs. She volunteered for Health Care Access and her home was one of the first to be featured in the group’s annual Holiday Homes Tour. She has also given her time to Catholic Social Services and volunteered at her church.

Every year, she is happy to have the opportunity to honor her first husband’s legacy and applaud the volunteers who make our community a better place.

“I can’t believe this year is the 30th anniversary and this wonderful award continues in my husband’s name,” she said. “Every year, when I’m standing there and the awards are going on, my heart is filled with joy and thankfulness for all the community does. And, also, the help United Way provides to me and to the community. It’s a real warm feeling in my heart.”