Nathan Valle, a senior at Mesa Ridge High School and aspiring orthopedic surgeon, was among the volunteers Fort Carson honored earlier this week during the 4th Infantry Division and Fort Carson Volunteer Award Recognition Ceremony. 

He was honored for his work at Evans Army Community Hospital, where he helped with tasks like removing stitches, learned to navigate hospital paperwork and worked to make the clinics more visually appealing, among other tasks. His favorite task was taking off casts and chatting with patients about their healing experience. 

He also learned patience and responsibility. 

“You’re also always going to be needed, no matter if it seems you will or won’t be needed in that area,” Valle said, who volunteered through the Red Cross and was one of the recipients of the Youth Volunteer of the Year Award.

Valle was one of 576 people who spent more than 60,000 hours last year at Fort Carson volunteering, according to a news release from Fort Carson. Those hours saved about $2.1 million, a gift event organizers celebrated with an enormous symbolic check.

Cynthia Brisby, the program manager for the Fort Carson Volunteer Corps, said their service was particularly helpful as the base faced troop drawdowns and hiring freezes. 

Volunteering also helps soldiers, their families and others build camaraderie, Brisby said. 

“This is a way for them to learn the community,” she said. 

Volunteers worked in the hospital, set up for holiday events, for Christmas, Easter and Valentine’s Day, among many other tasks, she said. 

During the recognition ceremony, Fort Carson officials honored volunteers who worked with groups such as, Ladies of Carson Kickball, Mountain Post Santa’s Workshop, Mountain Post Spouses Club, Girl Scout Unit 417, the American Red Cross, and Warriors Warehouse, a group that provides food and items for babies.