Whitworth Honors Elsa Distelhorst and Gilbert Kubwimana with Distinguished Community Service Awards
The Distinguished Community Service Award is given to those who “exhibit outstanding achievement in the areas of life which Whitworth University holds in esteem, with emphasis on service or contribution in the community.”
Elsa Distelhorst
Elsa Distelhorst has been serving communities through education and healthcare her entire life. Upon graduation from Wheelock College, she became a first-grade teacher in Massachusetts and a year later moved to Hawaii to teach children in Kamehameha Schools’ Head Start program.
A few years later, Distelhorst and her husband moved to Spokane where she went to work for a pediatric healthcare practice, but soon returned to a career in education. For 25 years, she led advocacy and fundraising events focused on strengthening diversity, equity and inclusion at Whitworth.
Stacey Kamm Smith, Whitworth’s vice president for institutional advancement, was Distelhorst’s colleague and remains a close friend.
“I am hard-pressed to think of another person more committed to community development, civic engagement and service,” Smith says. “Elsa is unwavering in her passion to serve and has contributed time, talent and resources to so many civic and community endeavors. Her specific passion for social justice is well known, and she is a tireless advocate for those whose voices are often not heard. She is a person of remarkable grace, intelligence and perseverance. Elsa is a true example of a civic leader.”
Throughout her career she has worked with March of Dimes, Churches Against Racism, Spokane’s Center for Justice, the Krista Foundation for Global Citizenship, the Mayor’s Task Force on Race Relations, the Nishinomiya Sister City Society, Unity in Action, Intercollegiate Racial Concerns, Greater Spokane Inc. and the Rockwood Residents’ Foundation. Following the untimely death of Black Lens founder Sandy Williams, Distelhorst stepped up to support the newspaper.
Distelhorst has also been honored with a Spokane Human Rights Award and in 2021 was named one of The Spokesman Review’s Women of the Year.
Gilbert Kubwimana
Gilbert Kubwimana is the founder of Love with Actions, a ministry in Rwanda that provides a variety of services to children with disabilities and their families.
Love with Actions operates two schools for disabled children and raises funds for important medical procedures, giving the children the specialized occupational and physical therapy needed to help them live fuller lives. Staff members transport children and their mothers to and from school and therapy and while the children receive services, many of their mothers are in training programs teaching them how to weave baskets and make purses and shopping bags in order to earn an income.
Kubwimana was nominated for the award by Whitworth trustee Scott Chandler ’85, who has been advising Kubwimana on his business plan. Chandler and his wife, Sue, are heavily involved with the organization. “The mission of any organization is key,” Chandler says. “However, having a mission and living it can be two different things. Gilbert and his organization live their mission out daily, hourly and every minute.”
The Rev. Scott Dudley, Whitworth trustee and senior pastor of Bellevue Presbyterian Church, has also known Kubwimana for years. According to Dudley, “When you watch Gilbert interact with the children, his love for them is obvious and their love and gratitude toward him is all over their faces. There are very few services in Rwanda for children with disabilities, and Gilbert is standing in that gap to serve those in greatest need.”
Love with Actions is always looking for volunteers and assistance. If you’d like to learn more, visit its website here.
About Whitworth University:
Located in Spokane, Wash., Whitworth is a private Christian liberal arts university affiliated with the Presbyterian church. The university has an enrollment of about 2,500 students and offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
Contacts:
Trisha Coder, media relations manager, Whitworth University, (509) 777-4703 or tcoder@whitworth.edu
