The Yolo Community Foundation (YCF) honored 32 recipients of its 2023 Yolo Philanthropy Awards, celebrated Nov. 6 at the Davis Veterans Memorial Center. Local nonprofits were invited to honor one volunteer each year for their exceptional contributions to a nonprofit.
DMA’s staff nominates a volunteer each year, and although we always have many worthy possibilities, this year’s pick was an easy and unanimous choice. Sara Marie is a longtime volunteer DJ at KDRT, a project of nonprofit community media center Davis Media Access (DMA). She launched “The Awesome Patrol Show” on KDRT in 2012 as a co-host, and has hosted solo for many years. This Friday afternoon jam session highlights a wide array of indie music and offers joyful sound currents to set listeners up for a great weekend.
And while she has long been a fixture in the KDRT volunteer scene, over the past 18 months in particular, she has demonstrated what it means to go over and above as a volunteer, and it’s for these reasons DMA’s staff selected her as our awardee this year.
Sara Marie stepped in as pinch hitter to curate and arrange the many dozens of auction displays for our Soup's On Fundraiser in 2022. As a member of DMA's Fund Development Committee, she also organized a fall community happy hour at Dunloe Brewing; provided a heavy lift during DMA’s annual appeal; played a major role in our live broadcast from Davis Pride in June 2023, and along with her son, Ethan, silk screened all the T-shirts for our annual appeal. She's also supporting Ethan as he's moved into a DJ role at KDRT.
Sara Marie brings a unique blend of fun and wisdom to everything she does, and we couldn’t have gotten through this past year+ without her. We’re thrilled to honor her.
—Autumn Labbé-Renault