The Pleasanton Community of Character Collaborative is set to recognize four Pleasanton residents, along with the Pleasanton Police Officers Charitable Foundation, as recipients of the 2023 Juanita Haugen Awards this week.

The award honors people who have a strong record of volunteering and helping the community by role modeling the traits of compassion, honesty, respect, responsibility, integrity and self-discipline. It's named for late former Pleasanton Unified School District trustee Juanita Haugen, who inspired the Pleasanton Community of Character initiative.

According to a press release from the organization, Bill Butler, Todd Utikal, George Bowen, Tina Ghai and representatives of the police foundation will receive their awards on Wednesday during the annual award luncheon, which will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Pleasanton.

"This year's Juanita Haugen Awards recipients exhibit the values of the community of character through their great examples of service, while living the values of responsibility, compassion, self-discipline, honesty, respect and integrity," the press release states. "Their examples inspire each of us to remember these important values in our own lives and do what we can to make a difference in Pleasanton."

Utikal and Butler will each be receiving their own award, but in many ways they will be sharing the commemorative moment as they will be recognized for their joint effort in working on the Yes on I campaign, which helped inform Pleasanton voters on the need for the school district to pass Measure I, the $395 million general obligation bond measure that passed last November.

Their time spent holding countless public and private meetings with individuals and community groups to inform the public on why the district needed the money in order to improve school infrastructure will be highlighted as one of the reasons why they were nominated for the award, according to the collaborative.

Butler, who is a Naval Academy graduate and former Navy pilot, has been deeply involved in the Pleasanton community over the years, having served as a board member for the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council and as the campaign chair for the Firehouse Arts Center.

Utikal is also no stranger to helping his community after having started the We Are Pleasanton group back in 2020. The group helped raise over $475,000 for infrastructure and amenity projects at Amador Valley and Foothill high schools.

Bowen, who is a 38-year resident of Pleasanton, will be recognized for various contributions to his community and the people within that community -- one example being the time he donated a kidney to someone he knew, which gave that person another chance at life.

"On another occasion, after a friend lost his 16-year-old son, George raised over $1 million and co-founded Impact Teen Drivers, the county's largest nonprofit aimed at eliminating distracted driving," according to the press release.

Bowen, who builds guitars on the side for professional musicians, also recently helped put together a benefit concert at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore in order to raise money and awareness for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which he himself was diagnosed with last year.

​​Ghai, is the final individual awardee and while she might not be as well known as the others, she had worked diligently behind the scenes during the pandemic to provide 4,000 masks -- which she stitched herself -- for essential workers, according to the collaborative.

During the pandemic, she had also coordinated volunteers to distribute around 2,000 cooked packets of food for the elderly and sick and delivered groceries to essential workers, caregivers and people who lost their jobs.

"Tina Ghai is especially passionate about women's empowerment, helping children in abusive environments and helping people fighting depression," according to the press release. "Tina's community service efforts are unique and far-reaching."

She has also been giving anonymous scholarships to local students on an annual basis and runs drives to collect food and clothes for refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine.

Finally, the Pleasanton Police Officers Charitable Foundation will be recognized for the foundation's commitment to help those in need, children and seniors throughout the community by holding events such as the annual Shop with a Cop, where cops help children in need shop for their families.

"The (Pleasanton Police Officers Association) strives to promote a high level of commitment to public safety and professionalism within the ranks of the Pleasanton Police Department with an emphasis on education, legal support, community outreach and trust building," the press release stated.

Last year, the foundation also provided funding for backpacks to students in need at the district and helped fund Adopt a Senior, which is an event dedicated to remembering senior citizens in Pleasanton during the Christmas season.

The luncheon on Wednesday (May 17) is open to the public and costs $45 per person -- those interested in attending can register at the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce website at www.pleasanton.org.