Surrounded by family, friends and fellow community members, longtime volunteer Steven Meltzer was recognized as the Medical Lake Kiwanis Senior Citizen Volunteer of the Year for 2025 during the organization’s annual Senior Citizens Valentine’s Dinner on Feb. 7 at St. Anne Parish Hall.
The evening marked the 43rd year the Kiwanis Club has hosted the dinner, a tradition celebrating community connection while honoring individuals whose service has shaped the city. Before the award presentation, guests enjoyed a warm meal accompanied by easy-listening music from local group The Radio Helpers, a duo of multi-instrumentalists whose name nods to their father’s work in radio.
Kiwanis President-Elect Daniel Dorshorst presented the award, highlighting Meltzer’s decades-long commitment to service. A Kiwanis member since 1985, Meltzer has served multiple terms as president and board member and remains deeply involved in efforts supporting youth and seniors.
Medical Lake Kiwanis Club President-Elect Daniel Dorshorst recognized Steven Meltzer as the Medical Lake Kiwanis Senior Citizen Volunteer of the year at their annual Senior Citizen Valentine’s Dinner on Feb 7th.
Among his most enduring contributions is his role as a founding member of Medical Lake Dollars for Scholars, established in December 2000. The organization raises funds year-round to provide scholarships to local high school seniors pursuing higher education or vocational training. Since 2001, the program has awarded more than $922,000 to 1,015 graduates, and Meltzer noted the group is nearing the $1 million milestone — a goal he hopes will soon be realized.
For Meltzer, the work has always been personal. He said the Medical Lake community has meant a great deal to him and his family since they first settled there more than four decades ago, describing the city as a place where neighbors consistently show up for one another — especially for young people.
He praised the strength of local schools and expressed confidence in the district’s future under the leadership of Superintendent Kim Headrick.
“It’s always been a community where we have always looked out for our youth and the community donates to the cause and that guarantees scholarships for some of these kids,” Meltzer said. “It is just a good feeling to continue helping and to give back where I can.”
Meltzer’s lifelong spirit of service traces back to his upbringing in Brooklyn, New York, where he was born into a family rooted in the food-service industry. His father, Milton, and uncle, Jack, operated a kosher butcher shop and catering business for more than two decades before opening the MilJay Kosher Deli on Long Island, which they ran for another 24 years. As a teenager, Meltzer learned the value of hard work firsthand, taking on roles from dishwashing to food preparation and event support.
Students from the medical lake school district volunteer with the Kiwanis Club to help put on the annual event at St Anne Parish Hall.
After graduating from General Douglas MacArthur High School in 1965 and attending the State University of New York at Potsdam, Meltzer joined the United States Navy in 1969. He served as a medical corpsman in both surgical and psychiatric settings at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital and later at Subic Bay in the Philippines.
It was in Philadelphia that he met Christy, a Navy nurse who would become his wife in 1973. The couple is celebrating 53 years of marriage this month.
Following his military service, Meltzer completed his psychology degree and entered the Physician Associate Program at Duke Medical Center. His early career took him to a rural health clinic in Atkinson, North Carolina, where he practiced from 1977 to 1979 while growing his young family.
Seeking proximity to family and drawn to rural health care, the Meltzers packed a station wagon, a U-Haul, two children, a newborn and their dog and made the cross-country journey to Eastern Washington in 1979. He soon began traveling throughout the region, introducing the physician associate role to hospitals and clinics in smaller communities.
Meltzer accepted a position with Grand Coulee Hospital, managing clinics in Wilbur and Coulee City as a solo provider for more than four years. By 1984, he had arrived in Medical Lake to provide part-time care at the Medical Lake Family Practice Clinic — now the MLHS Wellness Center — beginning what would become more than four decades in the community he now calls home.
His professional path eventually shifted from clinical practice to strengthening rural health systems. Meltzer developed the Washington State University Area Health Education Center, supporting rural providers and promoting health professions education across Eastern Washington for two decades. He later served as director of education and outreach for the University of Washington Physician Associate Program in Spokane and Yakima before retiring in 2016.
Service, however, has long extended beyond his professional life. Wherever he has lived, Meltzer has stepped into volunteer roles — from serving as secretary of a volunteer fire department and president of the Ruritan Club in North Carolina to joining the Medical Lake Planning Commission at the request of then-Mayor Ramsey shortly after arriving in town.
His dedication to youth development is equally notable. Active in Scouting leadership since 1978, Meltzer served as both Cubmaster and Scoutmaster and later supported local Pack and Troop 307 as the Kiwanis chartered organization representative, earning recognition for his leadership along the way.
For two decades, he also helped guide the Blue Waters Bluegrass Festival, a community event that brought music lovers together each year until he stepped away from leadership in 2022.
Those who know Meltzer often describe a common thread throughout his life: a willingness to help wherever needed. That reputation was evident as attendees gathered to celebrate the 79-year-old volunteer whose efforts have helped strengthen Medical Lake’s civic and educational landscape.
As the evening concluded, the sentiment shared by many in attendance was clear — volunteers like Meltzer form the backbone of communities such as Medical Lake, helping create an environment where families can thrive.
While he continues to serve, Meltzer acknowledged he hopes to slow the pace in the coming years, looking forward to spending more time traveling with Christy. Even so, his legacy of service — rooted in compassion, education and community pride — is already firmly woven into the fabric of the town he has long called home.
Steven Meltzer received this clock in recognition for all that he has done for the Medical Lake Community.
