Scott Keller and his wife, Jennifer, are greeted with applause from a crowd gathered for Keller’s receipt of the Battle Ground Citizen of the Year award for 2020 at Battle Ground Public Schools’ Lewisville campus Saturday, Feb. 27.
Volunteer Michelle Vanderhoef displays an example of the USDA Farmers to Families boxes being given to community members at Battle Ground Public School’s Lewisville campus Saturday, Feb. 27.
Scott Keller receives the Battle Ground Citizen of the Year award for 2020 during a ceremony at Battle Ground Public Schools’ Lewisville campus Saturday, Feb. 27.
Battle Ground once again has a citizen with formal recognition for being an exemplary member of the community, as Scott Keller was named the first Citizen of the Year by a new committee for his efforts in coordinating a food box program that has served thousands in the past several months.
On Feb. 27, community members gathered at the Lewisville campus of Battle Ground Public Schools to formally honor Keller as the recipient of the 2020 Citizen of the Year award. He was honored due to his work bringing local food distribution from the USDA Farmers to Families program, which is a COVID-19-era effort to feed families in the current time of crisis.
The program began in Spring 2020 as part of federal COVID-19 relief efforts, according to the USDA’s website, with the department coordinating purchases from food producers of all sizes to make family-sized boxes ready to distribute to those in need of assistance, free of charge.
Keller acknowledged that it felt great to receive such recognition, but he directed attention to the volunteers who have helped to make the program successful in Battle Ground.
“Without them, it wouldn’t be possible, it would have just been an idea,” Keller remarked. “I’m able to follow through with it, and here we are.”
Keller said the Battle Ground operation delivered 1,100 boxes weekly, with Saturday morning being the distribution day at the BGPS Lewisville campus. He said that there were roughly half a million plates of food-worth distributed from the site since it began operation in September.
Keller said it was the only Farmers to Families distribution happening in Southwest Washington, adding the weekly operation has some 50 volunteers helping with the program.
“It’s great to be recognized … and I humbly accept it,” Keller remarked.
With the dissolution of the Battle Ground Chamber of Commerce in 2018, there was no longer a recognition of the “Person of the Year” for the city, Battle Ground Citizen of the Year Committee organizer Stefanie Adams explained. Alongside the presentation of a plaque for the individual, roses historically were planted at the city’s Central Park off of Main Street in Old Town as part of festivities around the recognition.
Once again, roses would be planted in an event to follow the formal presentation.
Nominations for Citizen of the Year came in starting in December, Adams said, with about half being for Keller. She said the first year of organizing the program wasn’t completely smooth-sailing, but with a year under the unusual circumstances of COVID-19, Citizen of the Year will be more robust in its coming iterations.
“We had a lot of people that were nominated that were fantastic,” Adams remarked, “but because 2020 was the year that it was, and because this (food box distribution) was the result of it, it was pretty clear that (Keller would be recognized.)”
Adams said she spearheaded reorganizing the award in order to help bolster community spirit.
“I wanted Battle Ground to have another point of pride,” Adams remarked.
