Many people volunteer for many different reasons. For Tammy Lake, hers is simple: “It’s all for the kids,” she said.

The Sidney woman was recently awarded with the Presidential Volunteer Bronze Award for her continued efforts with youth in Richland County. The criteria for the award is 100 to 249 hours of volunteer service.

“I was pretty speechless when I found out about it,” she said. “I wasn’t really sure what it was all about.” For the past seven years, Lake has been active by volunteering with Girls Scouts. In her time, Tammy has traveled with the group to Washington, D.C., and Canada.

“It’s been a great experience,” she said. “We have just done so much fun stuff. Once again, it’s just another chance to spend time with great kids.”

Also for the past seven years, Lake has given her time to the Sidney summer fastpitch softball league as well as serving on the Sidney fastpitch softball board. Her and others’ hard work has paid off as the league has continued to grow.

“The league has just been so successful,” she said. “It’s been pretty amazing how many more girls are playing softball. A lot of people have put in a lot of time and hard work to ensure a positive experience for those kids.”

Lake got involved with volunteering as a parent and has continued to do it through the years.

“It started out that my kids were in activities and volunteers were needed, so I decided to just give it a try,” she said. “I have loved every minute of it.”

For Lake, if one child’s life is affected positively by her efforts, all of her time was worth it. Volunteering has a positive impact for everyone involved, she said.

“To think that what I said to a kid may help them make a decision to better themselves in the future is just awesome. There is nothing that makes me happier than to see happy kids.”

While Lake is grateful for the award, she feels many others are worthy of the recognition in Richland County.

“It always nice to be recognized, but I have worked with so many amazing people who deserve this award more than I do.”

Lake would like to share her award with all of the area volunteers. While volunteerism isn’t about recognition, there are many that deserve to be applauded for their efforts, she said.

“This award is for anyone that takes time out of their day to give back to the community and make a difference in someone else’s life.”