CONEJO VALLEY : Chamber to Laud Teen-Age Volunteers

Michelle Quist and Nish Baakza will be honored this evening as the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Outstanding Teen Volunteers of the Year.

“Both of them were very focused on how they are giving back to their community,” said Woody Brokenburr, the chamber’s membership vice chairman and interim chairman of the awards committee. Brokenburr said the chamber considered seven candidates for the award, finally coming to a tie vote on Michelle, a Thousand Oaks High School senior, and Nish, a senior at Westlake High School.

Michelle, 18, estimates that she volunteers six to eight hours each week for a variety of organizations, including the Special Olympics, Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks and the Hospice of the Conejo. In addition, she works 15 hours a week as a teller at Bank of America, she said.

She began volunteering in seventh grade, when she and her mother joined the National Charity League, she said.

Michelle feels she often gets more from her volunteer work than she gives. “The kids at the Special Olympics, they make me realize the importance of a smile,” she said. “And the hospital--well, it doesn’t take a lot from me, but it does a lot for them.”

Nish, 17, also volunteers at Los Robles, running errands for doctors and nurses, delivering medication and bringing flowers to patients. In addition, she volunteers with the Special Olympics and counsels peers at her high school.

Nish began volunteering at the hospital in the ninth grade because she was planning on a career in medicine. Last year, she was trained in an oncology volunteer program and now works with cancer patients in addition to her regular duties.

“My older brother passed away 3 1/2 years ago from brain cancer,” she said. “That gave me strength to work with the cancer patients and their families. I’d already been through it and that’s what made me strong.”

Chamber officials will present the awards to the girls at tonight’s mixer, starting at 5 p.m. at the Terrace Caffe, 105 Brazil St., in Thousand Oaks. Admission is $2 for members and $5 for non-members. For more information, call the chamber at 499-1993.