Times-Herald- Vallejoan Karen Taylor honored as Solano County Woman of the Year

Vallejo's volunteer of the year, Karen Taylor, is being honored with yet another award for her community work: Congressman Mike Thompson has selected Taylor as Solano County's Woman of the Year.

Taylor and four other women from Thompson's congressional district were brought together in a ceremony Saturday afternoon in Rutherford, celebrating their individual work within their county.

"I'm overwhelmed, overexcited right now," Taylor said of being recognized for her community work. "I'm still pinching myself to see if this is true."

Taylor is known for her work with the youth in her neighborhood since the early 1980s, including the start of two activity clubs for kids and teenagers — Karen's Tots and Karen's Girls Club.

With these two groups over the years, Taylor organized plays, day trips to Lake Tahoe and outings around Vallejo with her groups. Taylor also organized block parties for her neighborhood, where families, teens and neighbors would gather together in front of their houses for food and other activities.

"I regularly have the privilege to work with extraordinary women across our district. It's important that they are recognized — and what better time to do it than Women's History Month," Thompson said in a released statement. "Karen is a fixture in her neighborhood and our Vallejo community. She's always strived to help young people in Vallejo have the best experiences possible and to see the best in themselves. She is an extraordinary individual who volunteers her time to help others. It's my honor to recognize her as Solano County's Woman of the Year."

In an interview with the Vallejo Times-Herald in February, Taylor said that her work helping her community is what makes her happy.

"When I'm doing activities with the youth and changing their lives, or when I'm in the kitchen preparing a meal for the homeless people and the people that can't get out, the senior citizens," Taylor said then. "Just changing and making a difference in others' lives. That's what makes me the happiest: Seeing a need and fulfilling that need, That really makes me happy."

Along with Taylor, four other women were also recognized for their work: Cynthia Guzman of Napa County; Pamela Phillips of Lake County; Gaye LeBaron of Sonoma County; Maureen toms of Contra Costa County. The ceremony was held to honor these five women in March, which is recognized as Women's History Month.

Taylor spent Saturday with her mother and her two siblings at the ceremony and planned to celebrate together afterwards.

"It means so much that all of us are still blessed with our health, our strength and our lives and that we can enjoy and love up on each other today and make a day that we support and celebrate each other, not only about me," Taylor said.

"The back-to-back blessings that have come my way from being selected as Volunteer of the Year (in Vallejo) to Solano County's Woman of the Year. Wow. Wow. I can just say, ‘Wow.'"