Past Awardees: Deb Elkins Volunteer of the Year Award
The Deb Elkins Volunteer of the Year Award commemorates Deb Elkins, who devotedly volunteered as a reading tutor with the Lawyers for Literacy program for 25 years. Deb spent 34 years as a paralegal with Michael McGrath and another 25 years with Mesch, Clark, and Rothschild where she always served her clients and confidants well. The Pima County Bar Foundation created the award in 2022 to honor Deb and to recognize outstanding individuals who volunteer with any of PCBF's diverse programs that depend on volunteer efforts for their success. Award recipients can be lawyer or non-lawyer PCBA members who demonstrate commitment, service, creativity, and leadership in their volunteer roles.
2025 Wendy Carpenter
Over the past 35+ years, Wendy has had the privilege of volunteering extensively within the legal support community and beyond, contributing time, leadership, and creativity to causes that matter deeply to her. Wendy’s involvement began with NALS - the National Association for Legal Support Professionals - where she served as president, vice president, secretary, and education committee member of the Tucson chapter. When the Tucson chapter closed its doors, Wendy transitioned into the Legal Support Association (LSA) through the Pima County Bar Association. As president of LSA, she led a variety of initiatives, including two school supply drives for underprivileged Tucson elementary schools and a stuffed animal drive that provided comfort to children involved in court cases. She was also a mentor/volunteer with Lawyers for Literacy.
In addition to her work with NALS and LSA, Wendy serves as a volunteer for the Arizona State Bar’s “Wills for Heroes” program and the Disabled American Veterans' “Wills for Heroes” program, assisting first responders and veterans with estate planning documents. She takes great pride in her ability to connect people with the legal resources they need and to support others in times of crisis.
For Wendy, being part of this profession and community is more than just a career - it’s a calling. She has worked in nearly every area of law except criminal and bankruptcy, and thrives on continuous education. She enjoys learning something new and sharing that knowledge with others, reinforcing her passion for the legal field. As the current Vice-Chair of the NALS Nominations & Election Committee, she continues to support and help shape the future of legal support professionals nationwide. Volunteering has not only allowed her to give back but has also enriched her own life in countless ways.
2024 Beth Smith
PCBF is very pleased to present its 2024 Deb Elkin Award to Beth Smith. Beth's involvement with PCBF's guardian and conservator presentations began in June 2014 when she, together with attorneys Ryan Thomsen and Robert Fleming and UA law professor Kenney Hegland, conceived a plan to address the acute need for pro bono assistance to community members seeking guardianship for loved ones. They began with presentations to presentations to unrepresented petitioners at Pima Council on Aging for the general community and at Community Partnership of Southern Arizona for mental health professionals and providers.
When those presentations stimulated a demand for further guardian and conservatorship assistance, PCBA took the program under its wing and created a Guardian/Conservator (G/C) Forms Committee to create legal forms and instructions that were easier to understand and use. Beth Smith, with Robert Fleming, gave the first adult G/C presentation for PCBA in October 2015. The presentations have been held regularly since then and continue as a program of the PCBF. And Beth Smith is still involved!
Beth's invaluable and continuing contributions to PCBF's community G/C programs deserve special recognition. Congratulations, and many thanks, to Beth Smith, the 2024 Deb Elkins Volunteer of the Year!
2023 Michael Aaron
Michael Aaron exemplifies all criteria the Deb Elkins Award seeks to recognize: he is a volunteer who makes a significant contribution through his commitment, service, creativity and leadership. Whether it is spearheading PCBF’s Stuffed Animal Campaign, leading or volunteering in a PCBF clinic, or organizing and presenting CLE programs, Michael can be counted on not only to raise his hand, but to take the initiative. No matter what the program, he always comes up with new ideas, participates whole-heartedly, and recruits others to join with him to make it successful.
Michael has served as President of both the Pima County Bar Association’s Board of Directors and the Pima County Bar Foundation’s Board of Trustees. He has taken leadership roles in both the Family Law Sections of the State Bar and PCBA and served on the task force that rewrote the Arizona Rules of Family Law Procedure. He has been active in the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, serving as President of the Arizona Chapter.
Michael has been instrumental in many of PCBF’s ongoing programs, such as its “Stuffed Animal Campaign,” where he enhanced and expanded the idea, raised the money, and delivered the stuffed animals and comic books to the guardian and juvenile courtrooms. The concept was simple – make children (and sometimes incapacitated adults) who are afraid of the courtroom more comfortable by allowing them to pick out a stuffed animal or comic book to help comfort them in court. Michael was also instrumental in launching a collaborative CLE sponsored by PCBF, Step Up to Justice and Southern Arizona Legal Aid.
As Michael explains, “I start each day with appreciation for what I have. I am blessed to be able to provide and give back.”