Dawn Sanders, volunteer coordinator for the city of Sammamish and recent SAMMI Award winner, is packing up her Sammamish household and moving to Vietnam, where she plans to stay for approximately three years.

Her husband, John, was offered a job with Peace Winds America, but for her, the move fulfills a lifelong dream of living in a foreign country.

While it was very difficult saying yes to such a big change, Dawn said it just seemed like the right time in their lives to take it on.

“Everything has fallen into place for us, and it is the right time,” she said.

Both Dawn and John are on the board of directors for Kids Without Borders, an organization that is very involved in Vietnam. John will be working as a project manager for Peace Winds America and leading its Vietnam initiative based out of Haiphong.

“I will be working with the public and private sector, along with the local government, on all facets of disaster preparedness, response and recovery planning and training, with a strong emphasis on business resilience,” he said.

The Sanders will be living in North Vietnam in the port city of Haiphong.  John will leave in the next couple of weeks, and Dawn in mid-July. She plans on spending a month locally with her parents, and then another month in Idaho with her grandchildren before she heads off to Vietnam. As far as her plans for Vietnam, she has no doubt she’ll find something to keep her busy.

“We have a daughter who lives in Bali that we haven’t been able to visit with yet,” Dawn said. “A visit to her and a quickly growing list of places we want to see will be on our to-do list. I am hopeful that I can also get involved with the work John is doing.”

Dawn said she is most looking forward to learning about Vietnam’s culture, getting to know the people, and trying to learn Vietnamese.

“I am so used to working and being busy, I am a little nervous about finding enough to fill my time,” Dawn said. “I am hopeful that I can eventually find a job that will allow me to do the work similar to what I am currently doing. Right now I want to be open to figure that out when I get there.”

Dawn grew up on Cougar Mountain in Issaquah, where she attended Issaquah High School. Through her adult life she lived in many different cities, but when it was time to raise a family, she knew she wanted to be in this area.

Her passion for volunteering started many years ago, and Dawn has been involved in multiple organizations since, such as the Sammamish Kiwanis and the Lake Washington Schools Foundation Advisory Council. She has been Sammamish volunteer coordinator since 2007. Last month, Dawn was awarded the 2014 Founders Award through the SAMMI Awards Foundation for her loyalty and dedication to serving the city of Sammamish.

“She’s done so many generous things for Sammamish, she’s part of this city’s heart and soul.,” said Sammamish communications manager, Tim Larson.

Larson said there’s a certain light about Dawn, and “it’s not just that bright cloud of hair she’s got.”

Dawn said one of the hardest parts is leaving her job.

“I have tried to explain how much it means to me to see how much people in this community do for others – it means so much to me to have been a part of the Sammamish spirit of volunteerism. I haven’t ever seen anything like it anywhere else.”