Idaho celebrates a quarter-million acts of service and counting weeks ahead of deadline
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IDAHO FALLS – A crowd dressed in America 250 ambassador T-shirts gathered at the Idaho Falls Humanitarian Center Thursday afternoon for a celebration.
State Treasurer Julie Ellsworth was there, along with other lawmakers, local media and dozens of volunteers, because Idaho recently surpassed its goal of 250,000 acts of service in 2026. A service project at the Humanitarian Center pushed it past the threshold.
As of Thursday, 311,326 acts of service have been recorded on the state’s service challenge website. Susan Stucki, a specialist with JustServe Idaho Falls who is also a member of the America250 in Idaho Service Challenge Committee, told those in attendance she is thrilled to see people in eastern Idaho help the state achieve this milestone.
“America 250 in Idaho has changed me,” Stucki said through tears. “We don’t want this to end.”
The Idaho Legislature introduced a resolution in January for the 250,000 acts of service initiative to coincide with the semi-quincentennial of America’s founding. The landmark resolution officially declared 2026 the “Year of Volunteerism” in the Gem State.
Before the celebration began on Thursday, Jessica Cooper Whiting, the executive chairman of the service challenge committee, told EastIdahoNews.com she was thrilled to mark this achievement at the Humanitarian Center. Drew Beasley, who sits on the Humanitarian Center’s board of directors, gave us a tour and expressed a similar sentiment.
Marv Hepworth, a radio personality on Arrow 107.1 FM, spoke at Thursday’s celebration. He was involved in introducing the Giving Machines in Idaho Falls in December and said he quickly caught the spirit of service. Since then, Hepworth said he’s gotten a high from all the service he’s done.
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“I started getting to the point where I said, ‘Hey, there’s a high off of this!” Hepworth said. “This is a drug that’s legal in all 50 states and if you take it or use it, your mother will be thrilled.”
The timing of Thursday’s celebration falls one day before the 50th anniversary of the collapse of the Teton Dam, which Hepworth noted in his remarks.
The historic disaster, which spilled 80 billion gallons of water into eastern Idaho and buried Rexburg under 5 feet of water at one point, resulted in the death of 11 people. More than 13,000 head of livestock were killed and tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or heavily damaged. The estimated cost in damage was around $2 billion and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which built the dam, spent the next 11 years compensating those who were affected.
Hepworth recalled hearing about the dam’s collapse as a young boy in Hailey and getting on a school bus to help with the cleanup.
“Over the next two weeks, I rode a school bus to Rexburg almost every other day to clean up a stink I can never get out of my nostrils,” he said. “If any of you were there, that’s a smell you will never forget — the smell of mud, decay and rot.”
Hepworth noted that today there’s no sign that damage ever occurred in Rexburg, and if it weren’t for historic watermarks inside some of the buildings, there would be no evidence to prove that the flood ever happened.
The dedication of neighbors and friends in cleaning up the mess is something that Hepworth said has stuck with him through the years.
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At the time, America was celebrating its bicentennial. The celebration was overshadowed by the tragedy, but Hepworth said it’s the memory of people coming together to help each other that still resonates. EastIdahoNews.com will commemorate the disaster’s 50th anniversary with a special report on Friday morning.
America was built on a foundation of service, Hepworth said, and serving others is a fitting way to celebrate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
“I want you all to give yourselves a round of applause because what you have accomplished in performing more than 250,000 acts of service in this amount of time — we’re still six weeks away from the deadline of July 4,” said Hepworth. “That’s the kind of community and state we live in and I am so proud to be an Idahoan, if for that reason alone.”
During the celebration, Ellsworth noted that a replica of the liberty bell would be coming through Idaho Falls around July 4 to celebrate eastern Idaho’s efforts in achieving the state’s service goal. A variety of other celebratory events will be happening throughout the state as well.
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Stucki reminds people that just because Idaho has achieved its goal doesn’t mean the service has to stop. The service challenge website is still accepting submissions, and she’s encouraging people to keep the momentum going.