Master Sergeant Tabatha A. Bennett was bestowed the John H Anderson Military Citizen of the Year Award on Nov. 12.

Bennett is currently the full-time office supervisor for the Washington Air National Guard West Recruiting Office. She volunteers as assistant coach to the Rogers High School Girls Junior Varsity Soccer Team in Puyallup, assisting with the team’s physical fitness program and helping to secure funding for future school sports programs.

She also volunteers at Rogers High School with classroom support and at Kalles Junior High School providing administrative support in the front office.

Bennett is actively involved with the Washington National Guard’s Youth Program, designed for children ages 11 to 19, promoting high quality youth programs in conjunction with community partnerships. The program provides a better understanding of being a military child, especially during times of military deployment. Bennett also volunteers most Friday nights with the Tacoma Rescue Mission serving as a cooking and service specialist, in addition to organizing their food bank and other services. As an owner of a computer graphics, design and Web site business, each year she provides free Web site support to a non-profit that can’t afford design fees.

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber created the John H. Anderson Military Citizen of the Year Award to honor an outstanding military citizen to commemorate the civic contributions by our resident military personnel. John H. Anderson served as Tacoma’s mayor in the early to mid 1950s. He is also a past Chair of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Board of Directors, as well as a successful local businessman.