David Jametsky is getting use to his celebrity. It’s hard for him to walk through the Truesoups plant in Kent, or the streets of Enumclaw, and not be congratulated.

Jametsky, who is a maintenance technician at Truesoups, which is a division of the H.J. Heinz Corporation, was recognized by the parent company with a Jefferson Awards Champions for Volunteerism.

The Jefferson Awards are a national recognition system honoring community and public service in America. They began in 1972 to create a Nobel Prize for public service. Today, their primary purpose is to serve as a “Call to Action for Volunteers” in local communities. In 2006 the Jefferson Awards created Jefferson Awards Champions to recognize and encourage volunteering in the workplace. The Champions include major corporations, small businesses, colleges and universities and local governments.

Corporations have reported by encouraging employees to be involved in the community, they create a more positive work environment. This helps in both recruiting and retaining employees. Jefferson Award recipients, like Jametsky, are ordinary people who do remarkable things without expectation of recognition or reward.

“I do what I do for me,” Jametsky said. “To be nominated, I was like, ‘Wow me?’ It’s just something I’ve always done. My wife (Angela) says I’d give away my kidney if I could.

“I’m a relatively handy guy to have around,” he said. “I do anything for anybody. I try to help out where I can, without getting in the way.”

The Heinz Corporation solicits nominations from across North America in January with two basic criteria in mind – outstanding personal acts and community impact.

That’s Jametsky.

“Heinz nominates employees who exemplify the true spirit of volunteerism and public service and take action in their daily lives to give back to the community, as you have done selflessly since joining our Heinz team in Kent, Washington, three years ago,” wrote William R. Johnson, chairman, president and chief executive officer for Heinz World Headquarters. “Enhancing the quality of people’s lives is a core value at Heinz. It’s been that way ever since Henry John Heinz founded this business in 1869 and it is an enduring principle that continues to define our Company, thanks to people like you who are making a positive difference in the community.”

The selection committee reviewed the pool of nominees considering the nominee’s dedication, tenacity and outstanding contributions to the community and secondly, the nominee’s impact on the community. They looked at how the nominee made a measurable impact on his or her community through service.

Jametsky, who was one of 15 Heinz nominees nationwide and abroad, said it’s thanks to Heinz he is able to do the volunteer work he enjoys.

Jametsky spends most of his free time serving the Enumclaw community as a mentor and volunteer. He volunteers countless hours with his 10-year-old son David’s Boy Scout Troop. He is a den leader and committee member for Enumclaw’s Pack 500 and Merit Badge Councilor for Boy Scout Troup 422. He has been a driving force in Cub Scout Pack 500’s many community service projects like the care packages for service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan and a winter clothing drive. When the Washington state towns of Chehalis and Centralia found themselves underwater a couple years ago, he organized a food and Christmas gift drive and drove the items down there.

He helps with cleanup and restoration of local parks, summertime food drives for the local food bank and tree planting for the local conservation society, Mountain to Sound Greenway Trust. He also serves as a board member and fundraiser for the Enumclaw Youth Clubhouse and helps out with the Junior Hornet football team.

His latest project is securing a walk-in cooler for Plateau Outreach Ministries so his company can donate a pallet of soup a month to the Enumclaw-based organization that supplies food for the needy.

Jametsky was honored April 5 at his Kent office. He will be recognized in the corporate company newsletter this week and honored later this year at Heinz’ Pittsburgh headquarters and then in Washington D.C., where he will be one of 20 recipients vying for two national awards.

In addition, a $1,000 donation on his behalf will be made from the Heinz Foundation to The Boy Scouts of America, Tahoma District.