Draper City held a Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast on June 4. The City has many wonderful volunteers who serve in a variety of capacities, including the following groups - Parks & Trails Committee, Planning Commission, Mayor's Youth Council, Special Events Arena Committee, Draper Community Foundation, Historic Preservation Commission, Sorensen Home Volunteers, Tree Committee, Draper Historical Society, Draper Amphitheater Volunteers, Emergency Preparedness Committee, Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Committee, Volunteers in Police Service, and Draper Visual Arts Foundation. Almost 200 volunteers regularly serve in Draper.
Three volunteers were recognized as outstanding volunteers of this past year. Following are highlights of their contributions.
Michelle Coker (Tree Committee Member)
Michele has volunteered in many capacities, and is fairly new to Draper City. She joined the Tree Committee in 2021. Although she is new to the Tree Committee, her contributions have been invaluable as she brings a unique perspective to Draper from her background in California.
Michelle and her family moved to Draper five years ago when her husband was offered an employment position at SLCC. Among several things she loves about living here are her neighbors, the strong community, and the access to nature and open space.
Michelle willingly shares her knowledge and experience to help promote desert-scape designs in our city. She leads by example and redesigned her own residential yard as an example for others, to encourage and promote water conservation. As a result, she was instrumental in coordinating and teaching free Localscapes classes for Draper residents, a very successful program that helped our residents design or redesign their yards to better fit our desert climate and conserve water, a precious commodity.
Michelle strongly believes that staying connected with nature improves the health and well-being of everyone. She appreciates having the opportunity to help the city incorporate more trees and nature into our community.
Lowell Baum (Draper Visual Arts Foundation)
Lowell Baum has served in many different areas for the City. He served for several years on the Draper Tree committee and worked with young people to plant seedling trees in the South Mountain area.
Lowell also served on a community group to raise funds to have the mural that is displayed in the foyer at City Hall painted and framed.
Currently, Lowell is the President of the Draper Visual Arts Foundation and has served on the board for several years. Every year, he and his board sponsor an annual high school art competition for students in the Canyons School District. This competition gives students an opportunity to display their talent in the Draper City Hall. The residents and young artists look forward to this amazing art show every year.
The Draper Visual Arts Foundation also sponsors an annual Art Show, which has been held the last few years in the Day Barn. The show gives local artists a place to share their artistic talent with the community.
Lowell and his wife Linda moved to Draper in 1993 and he has loved seeing Draper develop. Lowell loves working with the great people in Draper and looks forward to doing all he can do to continue to build a wonderful place to live.
Mandi Brady (Draper Community Foundation)
Mandi Brady is the Director of the Miss Draper Scholarship Program and Etiquette Workshops. She has been working with the Miss Draper program for over six years and keeps growing and improving the program every year. Mandi has been instrumental in the lives of many young Draper women and has helped them increase their confidence while learning valuable leadership traits and important life skills. Mandi also worked for almost five years as a Draper City employee in the Parks Department and created and maintained beautiful flower beds throughout the city.
Mandi was Miss Draper 1998. Her mother was raised in Draper, and was Miss Draper 1972. Her Garfield and Enniss ancestors came to Draper in the beginning when it was called South Willow Creek. Mandi has lived in Draper since 1995.
