Saint Paul Neighborhood Honor Roll Volunteer Award Night – January 29, 2016Highlights During 2015, District Councils worked with more than 2,000 volunteers on behalf of Saint Paul neighborhoods, including more than 1,000 board and committee members.

• Field more than 17,000 resident requests
• Served more than 7,000 neighbors visiting district council offices
• Organized and maintained nearly 250 block clubs
• Made recommendations to the city on more than 260 zoning and licensing issues
• Kept more than 30,000 subscribers current on neighborhood issues and events via email
• Mailed regular updates about neighborhood issues and events to nearly 55,000 residents
• Reached more than 80,000 subscribers through social media
• Hosted a wide range of neighborhood events, including festivals, garden tours, pancake breakfasts, home improvement fairs and garage sales.  Most of these events were each attended by between 100 and 1,000 community members.

Every year, all District Councils selected three members from each district to be recognized for the civil services to the community.  For 2015, three people among many of the great East Side St. Paul community members were selected to receive the Neighborhood Honor Roll.

Mai Vang (Eggroll Queen) Compassion and vision in action, Mai is an active East Side resident who is known for her great heart and enthusiasm for improving our neighborhood.  She generously has donated time and resources to fundraise for people in need.  This year, she took on the honorable challenge of fundrasing for people who needed help to get back on their feet.  She sells her signature eggrolls to raise funds that help people make ends meet, pay the rent, the electric bill, etc.  As a neighborhood leader, Mai models resiliency and vision for what individuals can accomplish.  She has organized and mobilized volunteers to pick up litter and beautify our neighborhood along the business corridors.  Mai is someone who makes a differences!

Al Oertwig An active neighborhood advocate and leader, Al combines his vast experience with a grassroots zeal and a feel for neighborhood issues.  In addition to chairing numerous school groups, both in Minnesota and nationally, Al has served as community organizer in Summit-University, VP of the Southwest Area District Council (14/15) and was the first Secretary of Mac-Groveland.  While chair of District 5, Al has advocated for a number of publicly funded projects, including Arlington Hills Center, while navigating challenging issues and debates.  Al is currently active in re-invigorating PABA with their Harvest Fest/Parade.  His signature laugh is well known and his goodwill expands the reach of District 5.

Jeremy Sartain Rolling out restorative justice.  When this longtime resident and cyclist had his bikes stolen, he turned a bitter experience into something sweet.  Instead of prosecution, he sought redemption, helping the family whose members had stolen the bikes fix their own.  That expanded to an area wide effort to collect, fix, and donate bikes to more than 100 East Side youth.  He also became involved in fund-raising efforts for a family that lost a daughter and all belongings in a fire.