Mesquite Senior Games wins the Gold

By BOBBIE GREEN

The Progress

A local non-profit was recognized at the 2022 Governor’s Points of Light Awards Ceremony held on Thursday, Oct. 20 at the Blind Center of Nevada in Las Vegas. Mesquite Senior Games won the top award (Gold) in the Nonprofit and Community Organization Volunteer Program. The Mesquite organization came in ahead of Las Vegas non-profits Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada, which took second (Silver), and UNLV Student Nurses Association which took third (Bronze).

The Governor’s Points of Light is the highest honor bestowed by the Governor of Nevada and Nevada volunteers to celebrate the individuals and organizations who model Nevada values of service, responsibility, cooperation, compassion and the power of partnership that makes Nevada a better place to live.

The nominating letter written by the then-Director of the Mesquite Senior Games (MSG), Amy Bradshaw, nominated MSG for non-profit category. Bradshaw has since resigned her post as MSG Director.

Bradshaw also nominated MSG volunteer Beth Ann Caplinger for the Volunteer Manager category. The letter recommended Caplinger for all her volunteer work for her many volunteer missions in the community.

Finally, Bradshaw’s letter nominated husband-and-wife volunteer team Shelton and Sharon Wakefield for the Individual Volunteer category. The Wakefields were recommended for devoting many volunteer hours to the local community organization as well as for the many lunches they prepared for the senior athletes and volunteers involved with MSG.

Bradshaw’s award-winning nomination letter can be seen on the MSG website at www.mesquiteseniorgames.org.

At the time of nomination, the MSG had nearly 100 volunteers who had contributed over 2,500 hours, all committed to supporting the health and fitness of those 50 or over.

In Las Vegas accepting the award was Sandy Tudor, current President of the MSG Board.
“I thanked the Nevada Volunteers, the AmeriCorps Group, who are responsible for funding the grants that made this possible, but mostly I thanked our volunteers for all their hard work, dedication and service to our seniors and our community,” Caplinger said. “I did mention that we partner with other local non-profit groups.”