Honoring Our Volunteers
On April 21st – 27th, we celebrated Volunteer Appreciation Week (VAW) by honoring our volunteers. While we appreciate our volunteers every week of the year, VAW is an opportunity to highlight the contributions of seven individuals who impacted the foundation for prevention, survivor services, fundraising, and more, within the past year.
Grace-Sonia Melanio is our Burn Prevention Volunteer of the Year in recognition of her work with AARBF through AARP’s HomeFit program.
Grace-Sonia is a community health advocate and public affairs professional based in Silicon Valley. She currently serves as the director of strategy and special projects for the Office of Kat Taylor, enhancing the organization’s impact related to legislative endeavors, philanthropic initiatives, and community programs. Previously, she worked at AARP California, and through their professional development program, became a Certified Aging in Place Specialist (CAPS) accredited by the National Association of Home Builders. Still inspired by AARP’s mission to empower people to choose how they live as they age, she enjoys volunteering with the organization’s Community Education Team in her spare time.
It was during her time with AARP, Grace-Sonia and AARBF’s Andrew Mersmann teamed up in a series of virtual workshops designed to teach how older individuals can age safely in place using tips from both AARP and AARBF’s SPARC program (Senior Prevention and Risk Conversations). Although Grace-Sonia has moved on from AARP, she still teams with Andrew and AARBF for these virtual workshops.
Grace-Sonia is also honored to serve as a Board Secretary for Asian Women Empowered, a volunteer-run group for Silicon Valley Asian American women, focused on civic engagement, leadership development, and mutual support. Past volunteer community service endeavors include serving on the KQED Community Advisory Board, RotaCare Bay Area, and co-founding South Bay First Thursdays, an Asian American young professionals discussion group.
Hanford Fire Department Firefighter, Scott “Poindexter” Mellon is our Fundraising Volunteer of the Year in recognition of his innovative fundraising on behalf of AARBF.
Scott has been a steadfast supporter of AARBF and Champ Camp. If you want to know how long he has been volunteering at camp, you just need to add up his Champy tattoos. In addition to volunteering, Scott also raises funds through the annual Fresno Urban Run. The Fresno Urban Run is an annual event which celebrated its 10th year in 2024. There would not a relationship between the Fresno Urban Run and AARBF without Scott Mellon.
At this year’s race on April 7th, Scott was recognized for being one of three people who have run the race each year since its inception. After a couple of years of racing on his own, Scott encouraged others in his department to participate. Scott then expanded his recruitment to include students from two local fire academies and created a fundraising challenge which directly benefits AARBF. But that wasn’t enough for Scott. He also reached out to the race coordinators who now donate a portion of the race proceeds to AARBF and Champ Camp.
Ché Ochtli is our Survivor Services Volunteer of the Year in recognition of an unbeatable commitment to strengthening the partnership between AARBF and UCI Health Regional Burn Center…and California at large.
Ché Roble Ochtli is the Burn Program Coordinator at UCI Health Regional Burn Center. With nine years of experience in healthcare and burns, their work lies in collective capacity building, and creating tangible commitments to equity centered care.
It is through this capacity building that Ché has been a fabulous hospital liaison with AARBF. Always looking to go the extra mile, Ché is an advocate in the hospital setting and through community outreach—creating new opportunities for AARBF’s programs and services to reach more people and strengthening the connections among us all. Ché serves on multiple AARBF committees and in 2023, we were delighted to welcome Ché onto our Council of Advisors. This is who you want in your corner any and every time (and just about the kindest soul on the planet, too).
Ché had this to say about receiving the Survivor Services Volunteer award, “Hi everyone I’m Ché! I am deeply thankful and honored by this recognition. It’s been a joy and pleasure to serve the survivor community and I look forward to our continued work to support all those affected by burn injury.”
Clifton Stewart is our Executive Volunteer of the Year. The Executive Award is our way of honoring members of our Board and Council of Advisors for their leadership role within AARBF.
Clifton Stewart, raised in Los Angeles, California, is deeply embedded in both his local community and the broader nonprofit and business sectors. He currently serves as the Vice President of the Board for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and as the President of Friends of Camp Whitsett. Clifton’s contribution as VP of the AARBF board has been immense, and he has furthered the level of his support of the foundation by generously donating his time and expertise to co-chair the AARBF Development Committee and chair the By Laws Committee. In 2022, Clif served as a key lead in AARBF’s statewide 50th Anniversary Fundraiser Celebration.
Professionally, Clifton is a District Manager at Aflac and the Principal of S & S Insurance Solutions, LLC. A proud Eagle Scout and recipient of the Vigil Honor, his roots in the Boy Scouts have shaped his commitment to service and leadership. Clifton is happily married to Jennifer, and together they are proud parents to their 23-year-old daughter, Jordan.
Peter “Chop Suey” Reynaga is our People’s Choice Volunteer of the Year. He received this honor based on numerous nominations from the AARBF burn community.
Peter is a Central Valley native, having grown up in Fresno. He was first introduced to the Alisa Ann Burn Foundation after suffering burns in a car accident at the age of 14, where during his recovery, he was introduced to fellow survivors and AARBF volunteers. The following year, Peter attended his first event, the Ski trip. During the remainder of his teens, he participated in Champ Camp, YAS, the Outdoor trip, the Ski trip, and many other AARBF events. After aging out of Champ Camp “Chop Suey” spent one year as a CIT and had been a counselor at Champ Camp every year he wasn’t deployed as a seasonal Firefighter with CAL Fire.
Peter has been a dedicated volunteer with AARBF for the Central Valley Burn Relay, most of our outdoor activity trips, as well as the Clovis Dinner and Dance. It is his readiness to participate in the Camps and Recreation events, helping with youth survivors of all ages that makes Peter our People’s Choice Volunteer for 2024.
When asked why he continues to give of his time, Peter reflected on an interaction from last year’s Champ Camp in which one of his senior campers expressed how impactful their time was at camp. He saw in real time how the community that grows in just a short week builds a connection that transcends time and distance from friends. This is what Peter himself experienced as a young survivor, and because he can help foster that in the next generation, he returns every year.
Selena “Pookie” Brown is our Champy-On Volunteer of the Year. Our Champy-On award is presented in recognition of someone who has been an essential person to Champ Camp for 10 or more years.
Selena attended Champ Camp for the first time in 2005 as a counselor for young female burn survivors and until this day she remains a fixture in the Champ Camp experience. Selena embodies the Champ Camp spirit with her positivity and enthusiasm. She has never hesitated to wear a silly costume or be part of our many ridiculous but entertaining skits and by doing so, inspires others to do the same.
Over the years Selena and Woodside Fire Department has helped us with several fundraising opportunities like our Burn Relays and she has participated in our Bows for Dough fundraiser solidifying her as the recipient for this year’s Champy-On Award.
Selena has more recently accepted the role as one of the Counselor in Training unit leaders where she continues to be a tremendously valuable peer and ally to young burn survivors ages 18-20 at events like Champ Camp and The Young Adult Summit. Her continued support of the burn survivor community over the years has had a profound and positive impact on the lives of many young burn survivors, always uplifting those around her with contagious levels of fun and passion.
Russ Charvonia is the 2024 recipient of the Ruch Family Circle Volunteer of the Year. The Ruch Family Circle is the most prestigious award that we present, awarded to someone who has been instrumental to the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, for 10 or more years.
In June of 2014, Russ and his wife, Linda, attended Champ Camp for a night where they were able to see and interact with campers and counselors, which lead to AARBF becoming very near and dear to their hearts. This took Russ down the path to ways in which he could support AARBF and our burn community. As Grand Master of the Masons in California, Russ was instrumental in raising $250,000 for our FISE program. In 2016, Russ joined our Board of Directors and became our Board President in 2020. In addition to serving on our board and raising funds for the foundation, he also generously donated his time to our southern region. From day-to-day administrative tasks to attending regional events, we could always count on Russ.
Although Russ’ board term ended this year, he is still very much involved with the foundation, meeting regularly with and mentoring our Development Director as well as providing guidance to our new Board President. We are honored and very fortunate to have Russ as a part of the AARBF family and we appreciate his many years of support in a variety of ways to the Foundation.