Lodi Mayor’s Community Service Award bestowed on multitasking volunteer

Kathryn Siddle was presented with the Mayor’s Community Service Award during Wednesday evening’s Lodi City Council meeting.

From writing grants for a variety of organizations, to counseling people in crises at the Women’s Center, to working the cash register at the Lodi House Thrift Store, Siddle has never turned down the opportunity to help her fellow Lodi residents.

“I am a total ’60s baby. When John F. Kennedy said, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,’ it stuck with me,” she said. “I love providing services for people. It gives me purpose, and it is a large part of who I am.”

Siddle, who worked as a social worker, began volunteering once she retired.

She started by joining the Friends of the Lodi Public Library. As she volunteered at the library, she began to branch out and focused on areas in the community that both needed attention and were under-served.

She began offering counseling services twice a week to women at the Women’s Center — Youth and Family Services in Lodi.

“I will always be an advocate for victims,” Siddle said. “As a social worker, I worked 40 plus hours of counseling and helping people in the community. Now that I am retired, I get to spend a couple of hours a week doing what I am passionate about.”

Mayor Mark Chandler, who presented Siddle with a certificate and a bouquet of flowers, said that when it came time to select someone for the award,

Siddle continued to pop into his mind because he saw the various projects she was involved with.

“I know she does not do it for the recognition; she does it from the bottom of her heart,” he said. “I thank you for everything you do for the community. I know you do it because it is in your DNA.”

Siddle never feels overwhelmed by the work she does in the community, she said, because she has become involved with groups and causes that she cares about. Through her work, she has helped write grants to secure funding for the Breakthrough Project, Showered with Love, and Lodi’s Committee on Homelessness — which received $1.2 million in funding for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program.

“After securing the HEAP grant, I think I kind of crept up on everyone’s radar,” Siddle said.

Chandler also recognized the accomplishments Bike Lodi has made with Siddle at the helm.

As the chairwoman of Bike Lodi, Siddle has led the group as it donated six bike racks — which have been installed throughout Downtown — and implemented bike valet services at key Lodi events such as the Fourth of July at Lodi Lake and the Downtown Lodi Farmers Market.

Along with vice-chairwoman Kandy Vaccarezza, Siddle recently represented Bike Lodi during the CalBike Summit in Los Angeles, where the local group was recognized for their bike tourism work.

“I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to do these things, but I don’t think it should just be me receiving the award,” Siddle said. “I am part of many groups. This is not the work of one person, this is the work of so many people.”

Siddle thanked her husband, Bill Mitchel, for his continued support and for backing her through the various projects she has taken up.

“Life is hard, you know. The least I can do is volunteer a few hours a week. It is such a pleasure to be able to do that every day,” Siddle said.