United Way honors Sabrena Combs with lifetime achievement award

WASILLA — United Way of Mat-Su recently designated Deputy Mayor of Palmer Sabrena Combs as the 2021 recipient of the Dorothy A. Jones Lifetime Achievement Award for her tireless efforts building up Palmer and the surrounding Mat-Su Valley community.

“I am extremely honored and entirely humbled by being included in the same group of people who’ve won it before as well as this year’s nominees,” Combs said.

United Way chose Combs for her dedication as an advocate for sustainable change, social justice, and equal opportunities for all.

Combs is a lifelong Palmer resident who’s served on numerous boards and committees over the years on top of raising two boys.

United Way of Mat-Su Outreach Coordinator Michele Harmeling said Combs’ work can be seen, from the ballfields to city hall, praising her work building a better Mat-Su as much on the ground as she does from a podium.

Harmeling said they also count on Combs’ holiday and overall community spirit shining through to make events like Colony Christmas and Colony Days memorable celebrations for everyone to enjoy, doing what she does best, showcasing Palmer.

“Sabrena continues to pour her energy into making Palmer the best it can be, for everyone,” Harmeling said.

Combs said that she served on United Way’s board of directors for six years.

“I just saw them making a huge difference and wanted to be a part of that,” Combs said.

Harmeling said they have a lot of fond memories of Combs’ hard work as much as her fun presence at events like Puttin’ On the Glitz, making it all the sweeter hand her the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award.

“It gives us great pleasure to present this award to Sabrena, but with one caveat: even though this is an award honoring a lifetime of service, we expect many more years of philanthropy and advocacy out of her! It’s not time to retire just yet,” Harmeling said. “We know we will continue to see great things from Sabrena and are fortunate to have her time, talents, energy, and integrity benefitting the Mat-Su. Thank you for all you do, Sabrena.”

Combs continues to collaborate with United Way during their annual Week of Caring through MEA and partnering schools to work on community projects. She said that she deeply values United Way’s mission, and plans to continue supporting them wherever she can.

“I told them I was going to accept it as a deposit on the work I still have to do. At 37, I think I still have quite a bit of time left to get stuff done,” Combs said with a laugh.

Combs commended United Way’s team for prevailing throughout the various challenges caused by COVID-19. She said they were able to maintain crucial services and annual community campaigns like Stuff the Bus in spite of the pandemic.

“Right now there’s just so many people reaching out for services. There’s homeless issues. There’s hunger issues… Those needs don’t go away just because we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Their team has been super creative in making sure those needs are still met in our community,” Combs said.

For more information about United Way of Mat-Su, call 907-373-5807 or visit unitedwaymatsu.org.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com