Junior League of Topeka announces 2020 community volunteer
Junior League of Topeka has announced Patti Mellard as the recipient of their 2020 Community Volunteer of the Year.
Junior League representatives surprised Mellard with the announcement during a Topeka South Rotary meeting earlier this Spring.
“Patti Mellard signifies how an individual can rally support to create positive change in our community. From her business efforts to the most recent opening of a Day Center in collaboration with the YWCA and the Rotary, her involvement has a large effect on the progress of our community,” says Erin Aldridge, Junior League of Topeka President. “It was truly an honor to announce this award to Patti with her friends and colleagues present.”
The Community Volunteer Award is awarded annually to outstanding volunteers in our community. Any new, active, or sustaining member of the Junior League of Topeka may submit a candidate.
“This year Patti Mellard did something that no one in our Rotary District's history has accomplished; she wrote a grant to Rotary International and received funding amounting over $120,000 for a project in Topeka, KS. That project is the newly opened YWCA Women's Day Center, which helps human trafficking victims have a place to eat, wash clothes and get input into resources available to them, should they wish to get out of their current situation,” Ashley Charest remarked in her nomination of Mrs. Mellard for the honor.
The Junior League of Topeka makes a donation to the charity of the award winners' choice in their honor. Mrs. Mellard has chosen to split her donation between STARS and the YWCA as they commit to fighting the crimes of sex trafficking in our community.
Patti became involved in the efforts to end human trafficking in 2018 and since then has collaborated with Rotary, the Kansas Attorney General’s office, YWCA Center for Safety and Empowerment, Restore Hope, STARS, and Freedom Now to fight sex trafficking. In 2018 she initiated three projects to assist victims, Fresh Start kits, Safeline Phones, and the Be an Angel program. In 2019 Patti chaired a Rotary Global Grant to partner with Rotary of Mumbai, India, and the YWCA CSE to establish a Day Center for victims of sex trafficking and domestic violence in Topeka. Patti has traveled throughout NE Kansas to present sex trafficking education at more than 40 Rotary, Kiwanis, and corporate meetings.
More about the Patti Mellard:
Patti Mellard is founder and CEO of Key Staffing and Premier Employment Solutions, and is currently celebrating her 31st year in business in Topeka and Manhattan.
Patti is a native of South Dakota and holds a B.S. in Education from South Dakota State University. She has served on the boards and committees of many local, state, and national organizations including: NFIB National Board of Directors, Kansas Governors Board of Economic Advisors, Leadership Kansas, NFIB State Leadership Council, Valeo Behavioral Health, Sales & Marketing Executives International, Society of Human Resource Managers, YEK, United Way of Greater Topeka, and the Topeka Chamber of Commerce. Patti is a graduate of Leadership Topeka and Leadership Kansas, and was inducted in the Topeka Business Hall of Fame in 2015. Patti is very active in Rotary and has served in numerous leadership roles. She is a Past President of Topeka South Rotary, and the current District World Peace Fellowship and End Human Trafficking Chair. She was honored by Rotary International with the Service Above Self Award in 2009, is a Paul Harris Fellow, and member of the Paul Harris Society.
Patti and husband Daryl live in Wakarusa and have 6 children and 13 grandchildren. Patti’s hobbies are fishing, crocheting, and sewing.
