By Andrew Burch
Almost 18 months after enduring open-heart surgery and a stroke, BYU service representative Robert Wakefield received the 2006 Volunteer of the Year award from the National Association of Athletic Development Directors.
“After his stroke, Bob had a very good excuse to sit back and take it easy,” said Michael Middleton, Executive Director of the Cougar Club. “Instead, within a week, Bob was back on the job and serving the BYU community – his actions provide a standard of personal commitment and sacrifice against which all other volunteers can be measured.”
Wakefield, and his wife, Cindy, have served as volunteers since 2003, when they started as full-time Service Representatives at BYU. The Wakefields work in the Student Athlete Center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, as well as supervising student activities and ushering at BYU sporting events in the evenings.
“We appreciate very much the fact that BYU has given us the opportunity to serve,” Wakefield said in a press release. “It”s nice to be honored for something that I love doing anyway.”
Wakefield teaches financial and leadership classes in BYU”s “Champs Life Skills” program and directs the involvement of BYU student athletes in the community. Wakefield and his wife coordinate the requests for service and speaking engagements by BYU athletes, which total more than 200 appearances annually. One of these programs is “The Buff Don”t Puff” program in which BYU student athletes visit elementary school classrooms and encourage fourth-graders to pledge to be tobacco-free for life. Since BYU started it, this program alone has reached more than 12,000 children in the community. During the 2005-06 school year, BYU student athletes spoke to or served audiences totaling more than 18,000.
The Wakefields also served on the President”s Executive Council at BYU-Hawaii for two years where they helped raise more than $10 million to benefit students from 77 countries including a personal donation of $1 million to help BYU-Hawaii and the university”s 10 collegiate athletic teams.
“In terms of athletic development, the Volunteer of the Year Award is one of the most prestigious of the industry,” NAADD administrator Jason Glaska said.
Glaska said each year the association receives as many as 25 applications for this award from its more than 600 members. Those applications are sent to an executive committee comprised of 12-14 administrators working in athletic development from colleges and universities across the nation. After the committee reviews and discusses the candidates and their contributions, there is a voting process to determine the winner.
“It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find a better example of pure philanthropy, selfless service, uncommon generosity, uncompromising commitment and true grit,” Middleton said.
