By Kirk Kern
Volunteer Coordinator Beth Caplinger shows off the gold award given to Mesquite Senior Games by the Governor’s Points of Lights. (Submitted photo)
Mesquite Senior Games was recently honored as the gold recipient from the Governor’s Points of Light in the non-profit category.
Three current members of the organization — President Sandy Tudor, Treasurer Ruby Sviontek and Volunteer Coordinator Beth Caplinger — attended the event on Oct. 20 at the Blind Center of Nevada in Las Vegas.
It was the 22nd year of the Governor’s Points of Lights awards, which is the highest honor bestowed by the Governor of Nevada and Nevada Volunteers to celebrate the individuals and organizations that model Nevada values of service, responsibility, cooperation and compassion, and the power of partnership that makes Nevada a better place to live.
“We as the board of directors are extremely proud of this award as it really shows our commitment to our volunteers,” Tudor said.
Tudor said volunteers are the lifeblood of Mesquite Senior Games and the organization wouldn’t be able to run without them.
Recently, the organization received a grant from Americorp to purchase new software to make organizing and scheduling their vast number of volunteers much more efficient.
One of the conditions of the grant was that Mesquite Senior Games had to apply for the award.
“Without all the volunteers, none of this would be possible,” Tudor said.
Finalists finishing behind Mesquite Senior Games were Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada (silver) and UNLV Student Nurses Association (bronze).
Tudor also mentioned former executive director Amy Bradshaw’s efforts in achieving this honor. Bradshaw led the organization when the volunteer software was implemented. She recently stepped down from her role this past summer.
“I must tell you that although she is no longer with MSG, Amy deserves as much credit for this award as any current board member,” Tudor said.
Mesquite Senior Games started in 2001 with the mission to promote health and fitness of anyone 50 years and better by staging fun, casual competitions. By 2018, MSG had added new events but still needed help to build its volunteer infrastructure, which was accomplished through grant fund-raising in 2022.
Today, MSG has more than 100 volunteers that hosts 20-plus quality events and organizes volunteers to assist in other community events, leading the way in senior health and exemplary volunteer services and performance.
Competitors and volunteers often come to MSG as lonely and inactive. The MSG mission offers a renewed purpose. Nurturing the fitness and well-being of the volunteers is just as important as the mission to serve seniors in a small town where seniors are over 50 percent of the population.
The fall season of Mesquite Senior Games kicked off recently with softball and pickleball. Tudor said pickleball had more players than in the spring event.
The organization is still seeking an executive director to replace Bradshaw. Tudor said the organization wanted to make sure the fall events were successful before resuming the search.
