(Denver – May 11, 2015) -- Rocky Mountain PBS is pleased to announce it received two prestigious awards from the National Friends of Public Broadcasting, an organization that supports volunteerism in public media. The award presentation took place at the PBS Annual Meeting in Austin, TX.

The Community Development Award, which honors an outstanding outreach project or campaign to raise community awareness and appreciation of that local public media, was given to our annual StoryMakers Creative Writing Contest. StoryMakers invites middle schoolers to submit their original short stories to a statewide judging panel, and it received close to 1,000 entries last year. The winners and finalists in each grade level are honored at a luncheon with a local author.

The Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer Award, presented to a volunteer who has demonstrated leadership, effectiveness and unselfish devotion to public broadcasting,was given to Betty Flaten. She has volunteered at Rocky Mountain PBS for more than 30 years, helping with pledge and fundraising projects, coaching students in our education programs, helping archive station history. In 2012, Flaten took over as Volunteer Board President after her predecessor unexpectedly resigned, and she still serves in this role today.

“It is an honor to work side-by-side with such a remarkable woman,” Rocky Mountain PBS CEO Doug Price said. “The Rocky Mountain PBS Network and our volunteers are stronger and more forward-thinking thanks to the extraordinary and innovative leadership of Betty Flaten.”

Flaten is the tenth Rocky Mountain PBS volunteer or volunteer manager to receive a National Friends of Public Broadcasting Award over the last three decades. StoryMakers is the station’s ninth volunteer initiative to be honored, joining the ranks of Super School News, our 35-year-old news program produced by Colorado middle school students, and the Station’s Archived Memories, or SAM, in which a team of volunteers archive Rocky Mountain PBS’s nearly 60 years of history. Find a complete list of our award-winning volunteers and initiatives below.

Rocky Mountain PBS volunteers or volunteer managers honored by National Friends:

2015    Betty Flaten, Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer Award

2011    Donna Dickinson, Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer Award

2006    Joan Johnson, Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer Award

2000    Diane Papedo, the NFPB “Grassroots Advocacy Award” named in Diane’s honor

1994    Dick Evans, Distinguished Service Award 

1993    Don Johnson, Special Recognition Award as “Volunteer Champion” (General Manager, KRMA-TV)

1993    Lydia Winkler, Volunteer Management Award

1993    Laura Sampson, Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer Award

1987    Cora Wall, Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer Award

1986    Molly O’Connell, Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer Award

Rocky Mountain PBS volunteer-driven projects honored by National Friends:

2015    StoryMakers, Community Development Award

2010    Super School News, Community Development Award 

2004    Station's Archived Memories (SAM), Community Development Award

2000    Millennium Pledge Team, Volunteers in Fundraising Award

1998    Volunteer Ambassador Program, Distinguished Achievement Award

1989    Telemarketing, Volunteers In Fundraising Award

1988    Tour Guides and Mrs. Bird, Community Development Award

1987    Cooking on Cue Cookbook, Community Development Award

1986    Super Six School News, Community Development Award