A retired educator with a heart for hockey and a longtime board member and proponent for Grace Clinic have been named the 2018 Kennewick Man and Woman of the Year.

Receiving the honors were Jenny Olson, a teacher in the Kennewick School District for 30 years, and Mark Brault, current president of Grace Clinic, a Kennewick health care clinic providing free services to those in need in Benton and Franklin counties.

The winners were announced Feb. 28 at the Three Rivers Convention Center in Kennewick.

The panel of judges considered service as the key priority when choosing the candidates. Nominees must live or work in the city of Kennewick to receive the award.

Olson was a teacher in the Kennewick School District for 30 years and Kennewick Elementary School Teacher of the Year in 2005. She holds two master’s degrees in education, according to her nomination letter.

She serves as president of her Philanthropic Education Organization, or PEO, chapter. The nonprofit provides educational opportunities and scholarships for women. She also is president of the Tri-City reciprocity area of PEO that has 14 chapters.

Olson belongs to the Tri-Cities Industry Kiwanis Club and is a member of DKG, a teachers’ sorority that emphasizes scholarships and children.

“She is like the Energizer Bunny when it comes to her volunteerism ... She works at the local high schools’ college fairs, bowls for Junior Achievement, works with the local food banks’ drives, My Friends Place donation drives, rings bells for the Salvation Army at Christmas, works monthly at the Juvenile Justice library, is involved in Cavalcade of Authors for elementary, middle school and high school students and fundraisers for PEO for scholarships that average $1,500 per year, and she helps at the Food for Souls program through a local church.

She also has served as co-advisor for the Kamiakin Key Club,” wrote BC Cunningham in her nomination letter. Cunningham was Kennewick Woman of the Year in 1997.

Olson has been education advisor for the Tri-City Americans since 2013. She helps the high school players, as well as those taking college classes. She also is responsible for coordinating classes between Canada and the U.S., proctoring classes and helping players fulfill their community service requirements.

According to Olson’s nomination letter, her home has served as a billet for Tri-City America players since 1995. Hockey players 16 to 20 years old live in her home from August through May. She has helped several players learn to drive and she also teaches them how to do their laundry, cook basic meals and adjust to being away from home.

Kennewick’s Man of the Year was nominated by Art King, Kennewick Man of the Year in 2013, and Kirk Williamson, who earned the honor in 2000.

Bault has served for 12 years on the board of Grace Clinic, formerly as treasurer and now as president. He had a vision to expand the free clinic and was

instrumental in convincing the Benton-Franklin Health District to allow its old building to be used by Grace Clinic in exchange for in-kind services, according to Brault’s nomination letter.

“He had a vision to expand health care access and to allow collaboration with the Trios and Kadlec residency programs. He enlisted the help of Dr. Kevin Taylor and was instrumental in working with Trios and Kadlec to establish Grace Clinic as a site where the residents all are assigned to see patients for a month rotation, expanding availability of health care access to the uninsured, low-income residents in Benton and Franklin counties and improving the residents’ knowledge and experience in working with sometimes difficult population,” the nomination letter said.

He is regarded as one of the most knowledgeable people in the region on the complexity and pitfalls of the U.S. health care system and can discuss the topic without succumbing to partisan politics, according to the nomination letter.

“Mark Brault has been an invaluable source of information and perspective over much of my career at Group Health,” wrote Williamson. “He’s become even more valuable as the volunteer chair of the Benton-Franklin Community Health Alliance’s Health Access Team. Mark is generous with his time as an advisor, but he’s also willing to roll up his sleeves and get things done.”

He’s also generous with his knowledge of business finance and has helped set several small businesses and individuals on a path to success, his nomination letter said.

Brault also is a primary backup for babysitting and carpool driving for his seven grandchildren and helps care for his aging in-laws, who live in Parkview

Assisted Living, taking them to appointments and to a weekly Monday night four-generation dinner with 24 on the regular list.

“Most of his family doesn’t even know all the things he’s been involved in, given that he always seems willing to help anyone who asks for it,” the nomination letter stated.