Library advocate honored with Kevin Fuhr award

MOSES LAKE — Sarah Delacruz is the honoree of the third annual Kevin Fuhr Community Member of the Year award. 

“She was so outspoken and the public face of trying to keep the library open and share the facts about it that it made sense for her to be our selection this year,” said Matthew Paluch, a member of the Moses Lake Community Coalition committee that bestowed the award. 

“Reading has always been a passion of mine, and libraries make that love accessible to everyone,” Delacruz wrote in a social media post. “Along the way, I learned so much about how our town works – about the library system, the people who run it, the advocates who show up again and again, and the volunteers who give their time and hearts to more than one board or cause.” 

This is the third year of the award, named in honor of longtime Moses Lake Police Chief and former city manager Kevin Fuhr, who passed away in July. Fuhr himself was the first honoree in 2023 when the award was named; last year Moses Lake School District Superintendent Carol Lewis was honored. 

“The Community Member of the Year is somebody who makes a difference in the community,” Paluch said.  

The Moses Lake Community Coalition is a group of residents formed to reduce the impact of substance abuse, particularly among youth. The coalition is a strong advocate for the Moses Lake Public Library.  

“(The library is) one of our best partners in the community in our mission of keeping youth off drugs,” Paluch said. “They've got youth drop-in centers; they do all sorts of programming. We had a not-so-scary Halloween event there that was really well attended. The staff there has really integrated into the coalition well and done a lot of great work with us to further our programs.” 

Delacruz has been active in the Moses Lake arts scene, volunteering for Columbia Basin Allied Arts, according to Columbia Basin Herald archives. She also volunteers with library art programs and recently took over running the Positively Moses Lake page on Facebook, a group that highlights the good things happening in Moses Lake, Paluch said. 

“She was so selfless in taking on the work that we do,” he said. “There was no underlying motivation besides just helping the community. And that's what we look for … It's the same way Kevin was: if there was ever anything that needed to be done in the community, he was the guy you looked to. And she definitely fits that criteria of, of advocating for the good things in our community.” 

“Sometimes what feels small to us matters deeply to others,” Delacruz wrote. “Sometimes showing up, speaking up, and refusing to stay quiet is the work.” 

    The Kevin Fuhr Community Member of the Year Award was named in 2023 for its first recipient, longtime Moses Lake Police Chief and former City Administrator Kevin Fuhr.
  

    Kevin Fuhr receives the Person of the Year award in 2023 from the Moses Lake Community Coalition. The award was subsequently named after him in recognition for his service to the community as police chief, school board member, city administrator and many other giving acts. Fuhr passed away from cancer in July 2025.