Volunteers from Sheridan and Cheyenne Vie For State’s Top Honor

“We asked the public to help us find the top volunteers in the state over age 50 and it is clear Wyoming understood the assignment,” says AARP Wyoming State Director Sam Shumway. “These three represent the best of Wyoming and selecting a winner will not be an easy task.”

Sheridan's Carla Crayton founded the Sheridan Foster Parent Exchange from her living room in 2013 with her 8-year-old foster daughter. The program has been replicated around the state. The first six years of Sheridan Foster Parent Exchange Carla worked multiple other jobs at the same time to keep it going; including work as a youth mentor and special needs para professional. The Sheridan Foster Parent Exchange provides tangible supplies for foster children and children in crisis; everything from a pair of shoes to everything including beds that a foster family needs to get started caring for the children they serve.

Since 2009 when Carla arrived in Sheridan she has volunteered with Vision Beyond Borders, Adventures in Missions; a four-month program working with victims of human trafficking, as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), has served at her church in various capacities for the last 10 plus years, worked with Project School House; and volunteered for a mission started in Sheridan to provide water systems in Nicaragua. Carla has been a foster parent since 2012 and has provided respite, foster care, and mentorship for many children and adopted a kiddo from foster care when she got married to her husband Stephen in 2022.

Terri Markham nominated Crayton, commenting "Carla does not serve for recognition-she serves because she believes every child deserves to feel safe, valued, and loved. What sets her apart is her rare gift for connection. If someone in Sheridan needs something-be it a crib, winter coat, or emotional support-Carla is often their first call. Her story is one of humble leadership, quiet determination, and relentless generosity."

Cheyenne’s Tim Sheppard was nominated by Cheyenne’s Sandy McFarland and is the Executive Director of the Wyoming Veterans Commission by day. In his volunteer life, he is a member of the AARP Wyoming Veterans Advisory Committee, and participates in Veterans Feeding Veterans, Veterans Talking to Veterans, Raising Readers youth program, and as a regional director for the First Lady’s Wyoming Hunger Initiative. His community work extends to his role as distinguished past governor for the Rocky Mountain District of the Kiwanis Club and in 2025 he became a Kiwanis International Trustee. The Army veteran is the vice president of the board for the Cheyenne After School Kids Program and the Past President of the Cheyenne YMCA. A graduate of Leadership Wyoming in 2007, Tim currently serves as its immediate past chairman of the board. He also participated in the Wyoming Academy 2024, a collaborative effort between Leadership Wyoming and the Wyoming Business Council.

McFarland complemented Sheppard in her nomination by writing, “A. Focht defines a servant leader as one who demonstrates humility, empathy and integrity. Someone who is able to foster collaboration, empowerment and a focus on serving others. In the time I have known Tim, he exemplifies these characteristics in every situation he is placed in. Always creating an environment where others feel valued and supported in their role and inspired to pursue personal growth and community strength.”

Cheyenne’s Charlie Simineo may be busier in retirement than he was during his working life. Simineo has been appointed by the Governor to the Wyoming Senior Services Board, and was appointed by the Laramie County Commissioners to the Laramie County Senior Services Board. He is also Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Site Coordinator at the Laramie County Senior Center, who also helps out filling out income tax forms for members of the public (over 1,700 last year, alone). Doing taxes continues long after tax season is normally over by volunteering at United Way of Laramie County two times a month from June to October doing taxes. He is a Laramie County Election Judge and site coordinator at the North Cheyenne Christian Church Polling Place. For 18 years, Simineo taught three classes every semester on Medicare, Medicare Drug plans, Medigap, Long-Term Care Insurance and Medicare Advantage at Laramie County Community College. He is a facilitator for GriefShare which is a 13-week Christian based Grief Support Group. Charlie began doing this after the death of his wife. He just finished the 32nd cycle of facilitating this grief support group. Additionally, is a community service member of the Wyoming State Bar’s Arbitration Panel. Charlie Simineo was named the 2022 Eddie Wadda Community Service Award and the 2011 AARP-Wyoming’s Community Partner.

In her nomination to honor Simineo, Rebecca Murchie wrote, “Charlie's work supports AARP's vision of aging with dignity and purpose by providing opportunities for countless volunteers to assist with the tax form preparation process. Many of these volunteers return year after year which indicates that he has created a supportive and gratifying work space. The same can be said for the voting site coordination and its impact on volunteers. Charlie's educational presentations on Medicare, Medicaid and long-term care options serves AARP's purpose of empowering people to choose how they live as they age.”

About the Award
The Andrus Award is named for AARP Founder Ethel Percy Andrus and is AARP’s most prestigious and visible volunteer award. It recognizes individuals who are sharing their experience, talent, and skills to enrich their communities in ways that are consistent with AARP’s purpose, vision, and commitment to volunteer service, and that inspire others to volunteer.

The award recipient will be announced in early fall and the winner and their family invited to an award ceremony in Sheridan as part of AARP Wyoming’s annual volunteer summit.

AARP Wyoming Andrus Award for Community Service nominees must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Nominee must be 50 years or older.
• The achievements, accomplishments, or service on which the nomination is based must have been performed on a volunteer basis, without pay. Volunteers receiving small stipends to cover the costs associated with the volunteer activity are eligible.
• The achievements, accomplishments, or service on which the nomination is based must reflect AARP’s vision and purpose.
• The achievements, accomplishments, or service on which the nomination is based must be replicable and provide inspiration for others to volunteer.
• Partisan political achievements, accomplishments or service may not be considered.
• Couples or partners who perform service together are also eligible; however, teams are not eligible.
• Previous Andrus Award recipients are not eligible.
• This is not a posthumous award.

Past Winners

• Sheridan’s Judy Hayworth was AARP Wyoming’s 2023 Andrus Award winner after volunteering all over her native Sheridan County. At The WYO Theater Judy is an usher, a ticket, taker, and cleaner of the theater. As a part of the Sheridan Memorial Hospital’s Auxiliary, last year she helped decorate 18 Christmas trees located at the hospital, as well as medical clinics; helped with mailings for the hospital, such as Christmas cards; and helped plan the annual five year old birthday party. As a volunteer in the Sheridan Memorial Hospital’s surgical waiting room, she gets coffee, makes calls on behalf of the families at the hospitals, and even brings goodies. As a volunteer for CASA, Hayworth is assigned to work with children from the time they enter the legal system until they are, hopefully, reunited with their families. That means being a friend, a lunch partner, a sports fan and a source of strength.

• 2022 AARP Wyoming Andrus Award Winner Bernadette. “Bernie” Horst is a familiar face around Albany County, volunteering at The Albany County Library, The Wyoming Women’s Club; the Laramie Plains Museum, and Wyoming Women’s History Museum. Horst is perhaps best known for her work at the Eppson Center, where she remains active at the Eppson Center where she volunteers to update the grounds of the center by doing landscaping and decorating tables according to a monthly theme. For ten years, Horst has been a member of the Home Delivered Meals, delivering warm meals to those who are homebound or not able to cook for themselves. The University of Wyoming’s St. Paul Newman’s Center benefits from Horst’s efforts as she bakes snacks for students as they study for finals, contributes desserts for some Sunday night dinners St. Newman’s hosts for students.Horst also volunteers with the Laramie Women’s Club, The Wyoming Women’s History House, and PEO.
  
• In 2021, Torrington’s Paul Novak was named the AARP Wyoming Andrus Award winner for his better than 40 years on the Goshen Care Center Joint Powers Board of Directors. Since joining the Joint Powers Board, Novak has been a driving force in helping Torrington build a 24-unit Independent Living Facility; a skilled nursing home and dementia care unit with 75 rooms; and a 30-room assisted living facility, which opened in October of 2021. An extremely impressive array of care options and housing for older adults in a community of 6,700 residents.
  
• Don Cushman was the 2020 AARP Wyoming Andrus Award winner. After retiring 15 years ago, Cushman took a trip to Mississippi with the Presbytery of Wyoming to help repair homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. That experience led Cushman to make a commitment to work more consistently with Habitat for Humanity in Teton County. Cushman began driving the 55 miles each way, often twice a week (4,500 miles) to build sites in Teton County, which has culminated in its current effort, a five-year, six-building run. He has been named the Turnkey Award - given to the volunteer with the highest number of volunteer hours on a project - numerous times, and was named Habitat’s Lee Kuntz Volunteer of The Year Award winner for the Rocky Mountain Region in 2016. 

• The 2019 Andrus Award winners, Karen and Walter Jones, spend their retirement years volunteering with the National Park Service in Grand Teton National Park. For four months out of the year, the Jones’ live in their camper and devote their time to ensuring that the visitors of the park have a fulfilling and educational visit. Their duties with the park include talks about bear safety, animal information, and cultural history. They can be found answering questions at the desk or out on the hiking trails.

• When the rules committee was making up those rules, it almost seems they had 2018 Andrus Award Winner, Kay Bjorklund of Thermopolis, in mind. Well into her 90’s, Kay remained a Chamber of Commerce Ambassador, welcoming new businesses to Thermopolis, as well as program director for her Kiwanis Club, lining up speakers for the club’s twice-monthly meetings. One week a month you can find Kay delivering Meals on Wheels to Thermopolis residents. Each weekend she is acting activities director for The Pioneer Home, where she lines up Wii Bowling tournaments and shuffleboard. Kay would also mention she carries a 231 average on Wii bowling. If that isn’t enough, she also volunteers one day a week in the gift shop of the hospital in Thermopolis, and works with the doorstep ministry of her church.
  
• Clayton and Gloria Jensen were honored as winners of the 2017 Andrus Award by AARP Wyoming. The Jensens are the coaches at the Casper Boxing Club in Casper where they have gained a reputation for changing the lives of at-risk young men and women. The mission of Casper Boxing Club is to promote sportsmanship, responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and individuality through education, dedication, desire, and a commitment to maximize excellence. The program seeks to use the mind and body as a catalyst to bring about change, creating an environment to reach youth who others may have written off as unreachable.