Make-A-Wish America Honors DC3 Alumna

Published February 12, 2026

DC3 alumna, Dawn (Dunn) Springer, was honored with the Suzie Allen Volunteer of the Year Award at the Make-A-Wish Global Conference in November 2025. Pictured above (left to right) are John Allen, son of Suzie Allen; Leslie Motter, Make-A-Wish America President & CEO; Dawn Springer; and Scott Dishong, Make-A-Wish Colorado President & CEO. [Photo courtesy of Blushing Cactus Photography/Make-A-Wish Colorado]

By Lance Ziesch
DC3 Director of Marketing and Public Relations

Dawn (Dunn) Springer, a former Dodge City Community College (DC3) student whose volunteer work has touched the lives of countless families, was recently honored for her decades of service with Make-A-Wish Colorado.

Springer attended DC3 during the 1968-69 academic year—when the college was located at 1000 N. Second Ave.—a time she credits with helping shape her personal and academic foundation. After completing her first year at DC3, she transferred to Fort Hays State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1972.

While at DC3, Springer was an active presence on campus. She attended sporting events and performed as a member of the Conq-Ette Line, the college’s precision dance team at the time, under the direction of Coach Donnis Schmidt.

“It was an excellent group of girls, and we had fun performing,” Springer said. She also spent time with friends in the Conq Corral, the college’s snack bar. “I enjoyed meeting friends there to catch up or play cards.”

After graduation, Springer began a career in education as a second-grade teacher in Longmont, Colo. While teaching there, she encountered an experience that would profoundly shape her future path when one of her students’ younger brothers was diagnosed with cancer.

“I went through the year trying to be there for him and his whole family, always wishing there would be something special that I could do for all of them,” Springer said. “I wasn’t successful, but because of this family, I didn’t lose my desire to find an organization where I could help others.”

That desire stayed with Springer through years of family moves alongside her husband, Richard, and their children, Matthew and Kelsey—from Houston, Texas, in 1981 to Seattle, Wash., in 1988, and back to Colorado in 1989.

In 1996, the family settled near the Make-A-Wish Colorado office in Greenwood Village, Colo. In 1998, when her own children were older, Springer applied to become a Wish Granter. She was accepted and began volunteering while continuing to teach full-time.

“At that time, I was still teaching and granting wishes whenever I could, especially during the summer,” Springer said. “Once I retired, I began volunteering full-time, and I have no plans of stopping.”

Her dedication was recently recognized when she received the prestigious Suzie Allen Volunteer of the Year Award at the Make-A-Wish Global Conference in November 2025 at Walt Disney World. Springer, who now lives in Castle Rock, Colo., said the honor carried special meaning because she was nominated by the organization’s staff.

“It meant the world to me,” Springer said. “The employees are the ones who truly make the wishes come true, and for them to nominate a volunteer was incredibly meaningful.”

She later learned that out of approximately 27,000 Make-A-Wish volunteers worldwide, only 270 were nominated for the award.

“I feel so honored to have been chosen,” she said.