photo by: Lawrence Public Schools

Kristi Hill

Every night the Lawrence Winter Shelter was open last winter, Kristi Hill was there to unlock the doors and welcome those seeking shelter. Some nights she’d leave around 10 p.m., knowing her volunteers would keep watch through the night. Other nights she’d stay up to help work the midnight shift.

Hill coordinated the temporary shelter last winter, a place of respite for homeless individuals on nights when the temperature dropped below freezing. She established protocols, recruited volunteers, cleaned the sleeping materials and oversaw the shelter.

Because of this work, Hill has been named the 2020 recipient of United Way’s Wallace Galluzzi Volunteer of the Year Award.

“It is because of Kristi’s service that the LWS was able to function smoothly, without incident, and in a way which was respectful to those served,” United Way of Douglas County said in a news release.

photo by: Contributed Photo

Kristi Hill, center, pictured at a United Way fundraising event with Lea Roselyn, left, in 2019.

As the Journal-World has reported, part of the reason the winter shelter opened was because the Lawrence Community Shelter had been operating at reduced capacity because of financial issues, causing some homeless people to have to sleep outside as a result. Hill, an active volunteer at the downtown Drop In and Rest Center for the homeless, heard that a winter shelter might be opening and volunteered to help get it started and run it.

Hill had resigned from her position as principal of Pinckney Elementary School in the fall of 2019, and she said she was happy to take on the new leadership role at the winter shelter and be able to devote herself to the cause. Hill also asked that the Journal-World include that she was given a small stipend for her work running the shelter.

The shelter was first housed at First United Methodist Church, but because the number of individuals needing shelter was so large, the location ended up switching to two other churches: Plymouth Congregational Church and Victory Bible Church. Shelter was offered from December to March at the various churches.

For Hill, the most rewarding parts of her experience were getting to know the core group of people who stayed at the shelter, working with the volunteers and seeing firsthand the generosity of organizations and community members who often donated supplies and food.

Hill said it was inspiring to see donations come from all parts of the community and surrounding areas. Local restaurants and individuals donated meals, snacks, to-go breakfast items and more.

Hill said she was especially honored to receive the award because of her late father’s connection to the United Way of Douglas County: The United Way’s volunteer center is named after her father, Roger Hill, who was known for his volunteer work in the county.

Kristi Hill said it is “really, really special” to be honored in this way, and that her mother was excited when she called to tell her the news. Roger Hill is like a “patron saint” of volunteer coordination for United Way of Douglas County, the release from the nonprofit said.

“We are happy to see Kristi living up to her father’s reputation and are delighted to call her the 2020 Volunteer of the Year,” United Way of Douglas County said, adding that she “never failed to be dependable, compassionate, level-headed, and resourceful in her task.”

The Wallace Galluzzi Volunteer of the Year Award has been given out each year since 1985, sometimes to multiple recipients in the same year, according to the United Way’s news release. It is named after Wallace Galluzzi, who served as the first president of what was then known as Haskell Indian Junior College and was also a United Way volunteer and advocate for volunteerism in Douglas County, the Journal-World previously reported. Daniel Smith, a spokesperson for The United Way, said that Galluzzi led the United Way Campaign, then called the United Fund Drive, in 1983.