In honor of National Volunteer Month, NKBA checked in with past Chapter Star Award winners to ask what volunteering means to them.
April is National Volunteer Month, so we would like to take the time to celebrate and recognize the incredible contributions made by our volunteers for their hard work, dedication and selflessness. NKBA is an organization that has a long history of volunteerism, and our members are the backbone of the association. From the Chapter to the National levels, NKBA’s officers volunteer their time to further the success of their fellow members, chapters, NKBA and the greater K&B industry. Members have also participated in projects developed by NKBA’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity, as well as ones in their local communities, such as food drives, school supply donation drives, and healthy food and clean water access initiatives.
NKBA’s Chapter Star Awards recognizes the officers from among NKBA’s 71 chapters in North America who have excelled over the past in inspiring and leading their members and for their dedication to the association. Here is what a few Star Award winners had to say about making a difference for the NBKA and their communities.
“Volunteering is a calling to serve a group or a cause with the belief that every one of us in our small way can help make a positive impact for the better of the whole. I volunteer with that belief and have been an active volunteer in my home communities, in my children’s schools and in my professional community for years. I volunteer because I believe in our NKBA community and I want to see it grow. The NKBA is a dedicated organization with so much success over the years and yet I see a willingness to continue to grow, evolve, strive and push for even more success for our Kitchen & Bath community. I feel excited and honored to be a small part of that success as the President of the Northern California Chapter. Each one of us is a tiny ripple in the water, but with enough of us working together we can make waves.”
Nureed Saeed
Owner/Creative Director, Nu Interiors
President, NKBA Northern California Chapter
“Besides the well-known fact that volunteering has such a positive effect on your community, there are also some benefits to you as a volunteer. You can learn valuable life and social skills, boost your view of self-worth and have a greater sense of community and purpose. As a Virginia Tech graduate, I always circle back to our school motto: Ut Prosim — That I May Serve. Being honored as the NKBA Texas North Plains Chapter Programs Chair is one of the ways that I do this, and I’ve seen the benefits of how our council has rallied our members back together over the past few hectic years, and how we each constantly learn from one another. I find it so important to give back, and specifically within the NKBA: an organization that has given me so much, from my education, career advancement opportunities, recognition, certification and — honestly — a home in this crazy yet lovable Kitchen and Bath Industry.”
Rebecca Sutton, CMKBD, CKBE
Residential Designer/Social Media Coordinator, Kitchen Design Concepts
Programs Chair, NKBA Texas North Plains Chapter
“I have volunteered on various committees and on the council since I graduated from design school fifteen years ago. As a small independent designer, volunteering with my local chapter has expanded my professional network of designers, trade reps and businesses that I normally would not have an opportunity to meet. I have made lifelong friends and work relationships through my involvement on committees and the council over the years.
Having been a second-career design student myself and then volunteering with my local chapter, I cherish the opportunity to encourage and support the next generation of kitchen and bath designers. It’s wonderful to give back as the council did for me.
Volunteering with The Northern California Chapter allows me to have a larger impact by guiding our philanthropic actions and donations each year.”
Leslie Battelle, CKBD, CID
Owner/Designer, Battelle Design
Treasurer, NKBA Northern California Chapter
“Volunteerism, to me personally, means the giving of your time and energy to make your community a better place. The community of the NKBA helps to provide fellow industry members with an opportunity to get together and learn and share knowledge about the trade that we all are passionate about. It allows us to work together as a family to make our industry of design and the many related trades more honest and admirable. Volunteerism is a way to create great professional connections and friendships which I have had the pleasure of experiencing being involved with our Olympic West Sound Chapter! I am very blessed to work with such committed fellow board members that give so much of themselves, which makes my time volunteering so meaningful.”
Sylvia Stanchina
Interior Designer, Total Design Spaces
Communications Chair, NKBA Olympic – West Sound Chapter
