The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber presented the 33rd annual John H. Anderson Military Citizen of the Year Award to Sergeant First Class Luis Jimenez Thursday. SFC Jimenez is currently the NCOIC of the 593rd Sustainment Brigade’s Supply and Services Section, Joint Base Lews-McChord. SFC Jimenez has consistently been active in the communities where he has been stationed, including Taegu, Korea and Fort Campbell, Ky. Since being transferred to Fort Lewis in 2006, SFC Jimenez continued his full commitment to volunteering his free time. Motivated by having two children in the Steilacoom School District, SFC Jimenez became involved, first by attending every school district board meeting, and then running for the school board. SFC Jimenez was a 2011 candidate for the Steilacoom Historical School District School Board.
SFC Jimenez is a DuPont resident and is well known to the city government, having attended every DuPont city council meeting to keep abreast of the city’s issues and activities. Impressed by SFC Jimenez’s commitment, the mayor appointed him to the Parks and Recreation Committee. In this capacity, he has devoted over 100 hours of his time to DuPont just in the past year for their Fourth of July picnic, Safety Week, Salmon Bakes and Easter Hunt. SFC Jimenez has also volunteered with the city of DuPont citizen’s police academy.
In addition to his other volunteering efforts, SFC Jimenez, a member of the Lions Club, Kiwanis Club and Knights of Columbus, networked his services through his membership and assisted in raising $20,000 above the amount forecasted in the budget for the DuPont Parks and Recreation Department. Due to SFC Jimenez’s encouragement, the organizations solicited goods and services from local businesses to be auctioned off, helping fund the DuPont Youth Basketball Program in 2011. The extra funds meant 238 children from DuPont were able participate in the program (as compared to the city’s expectation of only funding 75 children).
“There is no question that SFC Jimenez devotes countless hours and boundless energy to improving and serving his community,” said George Cargill, award sponsor TriWest Healthcare Alliance’s representative and Business & Trade Development Vice-Chair of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber.
The 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.
