Friday, October 18, 2024, Camp Fire Alaska hosted its annual Employee Recognition Celebration. This blog post shares photos and stories reflecting on the organization-led work party.
The Why
At Camp Fire Alaska, our mission is impossible without our staff, their ongoing effort, and ongoing commitment. Our organizational culture strives to bolster an encouraging environment acknowledging team members’ accomplishments, contributions, and milestones — Employee Recognition is the culmination of those efforts.
It is an opportunity for us to celebrate with one another, enjoy fun teambuilding exercises supporting interdepartmental connection, and give away prizes. It is a celebration of our team, our work, and our impact on the community.
Employee Recognition Planning Committee
Employee Recognition 2024 was made possible by the collaborative effort of its Planning Committee. Together, the team of nine coordinated the event, choosing a fall theme, securing a venue and catering, pushing out notifications, planning thoughtful group activities, and obtaining giveaway prizes.
A huge thank-you to the 2024 Employee Recognition Team, listed below:
This year’s meal starred everyone’s favorite comfort food: potatoes — specifically, baked potatoes. Our entirely catered spread, provided by Peppercini’s Catering, featured a fully loaded baked potato bar, salad bar, fruit bar, and dessert bar, with options accommodating even the trickiest dietary restrictions.
The Activities
To maximize staff interaction, we specifically chose the following activities: Employee Connection Bingo, Puzzle-Piece Designing, Gratitude Leaves, and Prize Raffle.
During Employee Connection Bingo, the room came alive with staff collaboration as everyone eagerly searched for coworkers to sign off on their bingo squares. Each square had a descriptor, like, “Prefers tea instead of coffee,” or “Has been to five states,” with the instructions to have a coworker matching the description sign their names in the square. Employees were dashing around the room, racing to be the first with a blackout card. Their reward: knowing their teammates more intimately.
Puzzle-Piece Designing gave staff the opportunity to design a puzzle piece, illustrating what working at Camp Fire Alaska uniquely means to them. After independently working on their puzzle piece, four large groups were formed and they talked about their puzzle pieces, sharing their distinct perspectives.
Throughout the event, several prizes were raffled. The giveaways included LEGO sets, coffee, heated blankets, home décor, and so much more!
Tenure Awards
As with our tradition, the event climaxed with our Tenure Awards, where staff are presented with gifts corresponding to their time working at Camp Fire.
This year, we recognized:
20 to 32 Years of Service
32 Years of Service! Mary Ramsden, Assistant Site Director
4 Years of Service! Caitlin Adair, Senior Site Director | Zahria Garner, Senior Site Director | Nicole Gilliland, Senior Site Director | Brett Lindsay, I.T. Liaison | Connor Tetlow, Senior Site Director
2 Years of Service! Caitlin Fogle, Program Staff | Haley Manriquez, Assistant Site Director | Javier Rodriguez-Galvan, Program Staff | Eris Soellers, Program Staff
1 Year of Service! Reese Cameron, Senior Site Director | Kelly Chau, Program Staff | Christina Cordell, Program Staff | Rosalie Cortes, Assistant Site Director | Jolie Desroches, Program Staff | Krystal Eastman, Accounts Payable/Receivable Associate | Lacy Goodman, Program Staff | Emilia Graham, Program Staff | Emmett Hall, Assistant Site Director | Lillian Heinz, Program Staff | Adriana Hollingsworth Solano, Program Staff | Margaret Jenkins, Program Staff | August Joseph, Marketing Manager| Genevieve Lang, Assistant Site Director
April Luck, Assistant Site Director | Dakota Mobeck, Program Staff | Addison Nelson, Program Staff | Alliyah Nelson, Program Staff | Relleijhn Newman, Program Staff | Jayelle Padron, Program Staff | Lia Roehl, Program Staff | Jessica Salnicky, Program Staff | Joanne Saura, Program Staff | Adam Shipp, Program Staff | McKinley Sibbett, Senior Site Director | Justine Sonza, Program Staff | Vala Southwould, Program Staff | | Lucille Taygan, Program Staff | Rivinnah Tumisifu, Program Staff
Camp Fire Alaska-Branded Gift
Following the Tenure Award, there was only a single event left for recognition: the Annual Swag Gift. For 2024, we wanted the gift to align with our fall theme, so it needed to be cozy, warm, and wearable. After deliberating, we chose to giveaway a pair of autumn-colored socks, designed by our Marketing Team. Much to our enjoyment, they were a hit amongst staff!
Conclusion
Like other festivities at Camp Fire Alaska, Employee Recognition strengthens our team’s interpersonal connections. It provides us with an opportunity to bond, reflect, and recharge. Although we commend our staff daily, Employee Recognition is the day we officially commemorate our achievements.
Here’s to another successful year! Here’s to Camp Fire!
The Camp Fire Alaska main office operates on the ancestral land of the Dena’ina people. Camp Fire Alaska runs programing on the lands of the Athabascan, Yup’ik, Chup’ik, Sougpiaq, and Inupiaq peoples. We value and thank them for their current and historic commitment to and protection of this land. We pledge to assist, in partnership, in the environmental stewardship of these lands. We strive to learn more about the history of the Native peoples of Alaska and the historic trauma they have suffered. We commit to being an active ally through activities, actions, and organizational decisions and practices. We understand that this is a dynamic process through which our Land Acknowledgement practices, and statement will evolve as we receive feedback from tribal partners and acquire a deeper understanding of and from the Native peoples of Alaska.. (v2)
A huge thank-you to the 2024 Employee Recognition Team, listed below: 
The Food 
Camp Fire Alaska-Branded Gift 
