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Pleasanton leaders and supporters will join family and friends next month in honoring three outstanding local contributors at the 2024 Ed Kinney Community Patriot award reception: Bill Butler and Lisa and Randy Brown.
Organized by Pleasanton nonprofit foundation Make A Difference, Today & Always, the award program named for the late former mayor of the city aims to recognize people who “exemplify through their actions love, pride, faith, belief and devotion to our community — as did Ed.”
This year’s recipients fit the bill to a tee.
A Navy veteran and married father of four children, Butler became a household name around town during two very different (yet equally successful) fundraising campaigns nearly 15 years apart: the pre-construction effort for the Firehouse Arts Center in the late 2000s and the Yes committee for the school district’s Measure I bond in the fall of 2022.
In addition to his time on the board of the then-Pleasanton Cultural Arts Foundation, Butler has volunteered on a range of community projects and coached youth sports for years, particularly basketball, according to award organizers. He also received a Juanita Haugen Community of Character Award last year.
“I think in short, I am both humbled and honored to receive the recognition,” Butler told me about being named a 2024 Community Patriot. “Previous recipients have done so much in guiding Pleasanton to be such a wonderful community to live and be a part of. I have always felt it was the least I could do to try and impact the community in a positive manner.”
He added, “I often joke around that Navy is actually an acronym for ‘Never Again Volunteer Yourself’ (I am a Naval Academy grad and former Navy pilot), but truth be told I have always been the better person for having stepped forward to serve. It has been incredibly gratifying and personally fulfilling to do so and as a result, I have been rewarded with wonderful experiences and friendships with those who also care deeply about Pleasanton.”
Lisa and Randy Brown have been making an impact on Pleasanton from almost the moment they moved to the city in 2013, getting involved with nonprofits and fundraising efforts as a way to meet fellow residents and learn about their new community, according to the award organizers.
Lisa has volunteered for the Livermore Valley Wine Foundation, Museum on Main and American Cancer Society/Relay for Life. She is currently the board president for Goodness Village, for which her husband is board member too. The couple also used to serve on the old ValleyCare Charitable Foundation board.
Randy is a past president of the Pleasanton Rotary Club and Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, and he is this year’s board president for the Pleasanton Downtown Association. He gives back to American Legion and Pleasanton Military Families efforts (he’s a Coast Guard veteran), emcees fundraisers for various groups including Agape Villages, and has built and donated over a dozen Little Free Libraries.
“We are incredibly honored to have received the Ed Kinney Community Patriot Award, as we deeply cherish our community. This recognition means a great deal to us to follow in the footsteps of the past honorees,” Lisa told me.
Randy added, “It’s been a joy to weave ourselves into the fabric of Pleasanton and to be embraced by this wonderful town. Pleasanton is special and unique, and that’s because of the people who have come before and poured their hearts and souls into this place.”
“We are so passionate about leaving a place better than when we found it,” he continued. “Lisa and I want our legacy to be one of family and community service. Pleasanton has welcomed our passion for volunteerism and allowed us to be active and make an impact. Receiving acknowledgement for this is humbling and something we will always treasure.”
The Browns and Butler will receive their awards at a reception set for the evening of May 6 at the Museum on Main in downtown Pleasanton.
Editor’s note: Jeremy Walsh is the editorial director for the Embarcadero Media Foundation’s East Bay Division. His “What a Week” column is a recurring feature in the Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine and DanvilleSanRamon.com.