Festival honors 2024 Volunteer of the Year

Makaia Knepper has been named the Festival at Sandpoint 2024 Volunteer of the Year. Knepper's selection was announced at a Sept. 17 event honoring the nonprofit's volunteers.

Knepper started volunteering with the Festival at Sandpoint at 6 years old in 2014. She is now 17 years old, marking the 2024 summer concert series as her eleventh year of volunteering.

Knepper is the current department chair in training for the Green Team and is the leader of all youth volunteers in the department. She helps lead the Green Team through performance setup, keeping backstage clean, and a full venue sweep at the end of each night.

“Makaia is one of our youngest volunteers, and her dedication to this organization and our community is inspiring,” Ali Baranski, Festival executive director, said. “It has been so exciting to watch her grow into her role with the Green Team over the years.”

Although much of the Green Team’s work is done behind the scenes and therefore may go unnoticed, they are instrumental in keeping the venue clean for our guests, staff, and artists.

“We welcome thousands of guests into the venue for each performance, which, as you can imagine, can create quite a mess,” Baranski said. “Thanks to the Green Team, after every evening we can return to a clean venue, ready for the next performance.”

Kneppers involvement as a volunteer started at a young age, following in the footsteps of her parents, Jon, Green Team Chair, and Amanda, Festival Street vendor, and Green Team volunteer, both of whom have volunteered with the Festival for more than 10 years.

When asked what sets her apart from other teenagers, Jon Knepper said, “She is very compassionate and kind. Her volunteering comes naturally to her. She looks forward to [volunteering at] the Festival as a huge part of her summer.”

The Festival at Sandpoint would like to thank Knepper for her tireless efforts, dependability, and selflessness throughout the years.

“As an organization with over 40 years of history, selecting one volunteer to honor as volunteer of the year, is no easy task,” Baranski said. “We take into consideration the nominations from all of our 2024 volunteers and there are a lot of contenders, a lot of years dedicated, and time given to this organization.”

During the Festival at Sandpoint’s 2024 Summer Series, hundreds of unique volunteers donated around 6,000 hours of their time.

These hours do not even begin to include the hours spent preparing for the annual event, which is put in by the volunteer chairs who coordinate entire departments of venue operations and are experts in their areas. The Festival at Sandpoint would like to thank these individuals and their many supervisors for their immense support and generosity.

The Festival at Sandpoint’s 2024 volunteer chairpersons included: Chair Rental, Jennifer Carter; Festival Street, Adia Burton; First Aid, Sharon Bistodeau; Front Gate, Tim Rosco, Kelly Whitman, Diane Stockton, and Kurt Stockton; Green Team, Jon Knepper; Merchandise, Mary Ann Hamilton; Taste of the Stars, Melinda Offer; Transportation, Frank Cafferty; Volunteer Security, Jay Dudley.

The Festival at Sandpoint wishes to thank every volunteer who participated in the 2024 Summer Series for making this year’s events possible.

Information: festivalatsandpoint.com