The Sparks Elks Lodge recently named Sparks City Councilman Kristopher Dahir Citizen of the Year. For 150 years, Elks Lodges across the nation offer a place for families to share meals, groups to come together, and children to play and grow.
Last week, the Sparks Elks Lodge #2397 chose Kristopher Dahir as its Citizen of the Year. Every year, Elks Lodge members submit a name from someone in the community who has made an exceptionally positive impact in Sparks.
“We recognize someone in the community every year, someone who is a non-Elk member,” says Elks Lodge Manager and Past Exulted Ruler Jim Hefner.
As a Rotarian, Dahir usually attends local meetings at the Elks Lodge as part of one of the many things he is involved with amongst school, church, and the community. This is the first time he has ever received an award of this magnitude.
“I am so honored and this was exciting to hear, I never thought I would receive an award like this,” Dahir says. “This honor is pretty amazing. It’s great that the Elks Lodge will stop and pause to focus on the people in the community and the incredible things they do. They provide a ton of programs for kids, they help feed our veterans…they do a lot to help give back,” he adds.
Serving as a pastor, director at the Excel Christian School, and time on the City Council are just a few of the ways that Dahir contributes to the community. He was instrumental in helping put together the Sparks Nevada Veterans Memorial Plaza, serves on the ALS State Board in fighting Lou Gehrig’s disease, and recently stepped in to take a leadership role to figure out ways to decrease homelessness problems in Sparks.
He also serves on the Washoe County Health board, the WC-1 committee that helps to oversee spending in the school district, and is an alternate for the Regional Transportation Committee and Truckee Meadows Water Authority boards. With everything he is involved in, how does he get enough sleep?
“I get around six hours of sleep a night,” he laughs. “Fortunately our kids are older and I spend a lot of time with my bride. Plus, we have a great staff at the City of Sparks and that’s really important. They give me all the information I need to be able to make good decisions. It’s also about keeping boundaries and saying ‘yes’ to the right things,” he says. He may be a busy man, but he says that having the right people around him definitely makes a difference.
“If I could convey one thing to Sparks Tribune readers, it’s that all of us have a responsibility. Especially in the City of Sparks, there are so many people here that do a ton of great things. I’m happy to be a part of it,” Dahir says.