Russell Brown awarded Rockwell Collins Volunteer of the Year

Russell Brown, a Rockwell Collins reliability engineer, has been named the company's Volunteer of the Year for his work helping disadvantaged children.

Brown started Build a Blanket 4 Kids in December 2010 through the Homeless Children's Trust, in which he serves as vice president.

The program's goal is to have 1,000 tied fleece blankets to give to children at the Trust's Christmas party. Girl Scout troops are providing volunteer help in making the blankets.

“The children rarely realize they need help from others,” Brown said. “But when I give blankets to the single moms, the look on their faces is just incredible. That hooks me and makes me want to do more.”

Brown is also an active volunteer at the Coralville Ecumenical Food Pantry. Last year, he put on a benefit show for the food pantry and raised 10 percent of their yearly budget in one night

Brown recently started the Corridor Volunteer Group on the website meetup.com. Thirty members are dedicating some of their free time to various projects like planting trees and serving food at the Ronald McDonald House.

“When I was in the kids' position, I had a really hard time with life, too,” he said. “My big thing is the children. The parents and the older people have the ability to try really hard or not try at all, but the children, there's no choice for them.”

As the award recipient, Brown receives $1,000 to give to the nonprofit organization of his choice. He said he plans to spend the money on more material for blankets and a freezer for the food pantry.

Rita Gatto, senior recruiting specialist in Tustin, Calif., and Peter Kumpon, senior mechanical engineer in Binghamton, N.Y., were named finalists for the award for their commitments to the Tustin Animal Care Center and Johnson City Elementary mentoring program, respectively. As finalists, they each receive $500 to give to the nonprofit organization of her choice.

Volunteer of the Year Awardrecipients are selected by a committee comprised of Rockwell Collins employees who review nominees based on their volunteer activities in the community that are not coordinated by the company.