Central Illinois woman gets state award for volunteer service

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — A Central Illinois woman is being recognized by the state for serving her community.

Sarah Rochnowski has been volunteering in the area for over half of a decade. Now, she has won the Governor’s Volunteer Service Award.

Rochnowski said she never thought about getting recognized when she set out to give her time to others, but now she has even more motivation to volunteer. She said it’s always been about others.

“People are very welcoming and it’s very nice to get the thanks from them, like, ‘Thank you for volunteering,’” Rochnowski said, “because you don’t get that a lot. And it’s just really cool to work with different people.”

Rochnowski has volunteered almost 30 times over the years. She said one of her favorite experiences was helping out at the Champaign Marathon. Rochnowski hopes to one day volunteer for the Chicago or Boston marathons.

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