Wasilla, Alaska —Margaret “Marg” Volz was recently announced as the 2015 recipient of the Mat-Su Health Foundation’s “Bertie” award – the Bert Hall Award for Commitment to the Health of the Community.

The Bertie is presented annually by the Mat-Su Health Foundation board of directors to an individual who consistently exemplifies commitment to improving the health and wellness of people in the Mat-Su Borough.

“Part of changing systems involves training system leaders and staff in identifying and understanding an issue and improving response,” said Mat-Su Health Foundation Executive Director Elizabeth Ripley. “Marg has done this across Alaska to help institutions and systems better identify, understand and improve their response to child trauma.”

Marg co-founded the Children’s Place, Mat-Su’s child advocacy center. While working another full time job, she spent her time off planning the programming and financing for this agency, which changed the way multiple systems across Mat-Su interfaced and cared for children who experienced trauma and neglect. These systems included the medical community, law enforcement, district attorney’s office and child advocate agencies. Marg also began a shaken baby prevention project in collaboration with Wasilla Rotary Club that targets middle-school children who are starting to babysit and who will eventually be parents. This program is still in existence today. She initiated and provided training for Abusive Head Trauma Prevention Programs at both Mat-Su Regional and Providence Hospitals, and she has helped coordinate a number of child abuse-related conferences in Alaska.

Marg has served on numerous boards and commissions including the Mat-Su Health Foundation Board of Directors, the Healthy Families Advisory Board, the Alaska Children’s Justice Act Task Force, and the Mat-Su Drug Endangered Children Task Force, and she was a Governor’s appointee to the Alaska Children’s Trust Board.