Becky Koppen, left, Webster City Woman of the Year 2025, is congratulated by Marjorie Groves, representing Beta Sigma Phi Sorority.

Becky Koppen has been named Beta Sigma Phi sorority’s Webster City Woman of the Year for 2025. The award was given Monday evening during the sorority’s annual Founder’s Day Celebration.

Koppen is being honored for her work at Retired Senior Volunteers Program — RSVP — where she has worked, first as a volunteer, then as volunteer coordinator, which is a staff position.

RSVP of Central Iowa operates offices in Hamilton, Marshall, Story and Webster counties.

RSVP is a national program, organized under AmeriCorps, an agency of the U.S. federal government. Its principal mission is to match seniors — those age 55 and older — with nonprofit organizations looking for volunteers. “Central Iowa RSVP recruits and places volunteers with over 80 public, nonprofit, and health care agencies,” its website states. “For these organizations, we process volunteer requests, promote volunteer needs, recruit and refer volunteers, and follow up on volunteer placements.”

Anna Woodward, director of the Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce, said, “The senior population of Webster City is fortunate to have Becky’s steady leadership at RSVP. Her collaboration with Kendall Young Library in the digital literacy program is an example of an effective program supported by RSVP. As more and more of life moves online, seniors need help keeping pace.”

The Rev. Craig Blaufuss, pastor at the United Congregational Church of Christ, Webster City, has been a member of RSVP’s board for more than 10 years.

“Becky is friendly, organized and always looking for seniors willing to give of their time and talent to benefit others,” he said. “She has great rapport with people and is persistent, but never in a negative way. Becky has my profound respect; she deserves this recognition.”

Laura Severson, office coordinator and Koppen’s boss at Central Iowa RSVP, listed Koppen’s many accomplishments during her tenure with the organization.

“Becky Koppen has worked for Central Iowa RSVP for almost 13 years, starting when the program expanded to Hamilton and Webster counties. In that time, Becky has been a wonderful employee, innovator and advocate. She has always been willing to find a way to use her position to meet the unmet needs in the community. In addition to ongoing volunteer recruitment for nearly 50 agencies, she has developed and implemented several strong, enduring and important programs.”

She added, “A little over 10 years ago, Becky single-handedly created the BASE Senior Fitness — Balance, Agility, Strength and Endurance — program. It started as a need in the community, and Becky conducted research, worked with local professionals to develop safe and appropriate exercises, recruited volunteers, coordinated locations, and implemented the program. There are currently 29 BASE classes in nine different towns in Hamilton and Webster counties. In that time there have been nearly 50 different BASE volunteers and over 800 participants.

“Another program Becky developed is the SPAN — Seniors Preventing Addiction to Narcotics — where trained RSVP volunteers give presentations which focus on opioids, their safe use, storage, and disposal, and warning signs of abuse. Most recently, Becky created a Computer Literacy for Beginners program in local libraries. This program is still in the early stages, but is already proving to be a huge resource to those needing help learning basic computer, tablet, and smartphone skills.

“Additionally, the well-loved Pen Pal program was brought back to life when Becky began at Central Iowa RSVP. This program serves several hundred students each year at multiple schools, and engages just as many volunteers.”

Severson called Koppen “an incredibly kind, amazing woman, who’s exceptional in her job, and well-respected by her colleagues, volunteers and community members.”

Sara Trueblood, Webster City, has been a BASE group leader since 2014. She described BASE as a way for seniors “to age comfortably and safely, while finding a new chance to socialize up to three times a week, and make new friends.” She credited Koppen with being “very connected to the needs of seniors.”

Beta Sigma Phi International was founded January 1, 1931, by Walter W. Ross, in Salina, Kansas. It was formed as “The National What-to-Read Club” for women who “were unable to attend college due to the economic climate of the times.” In other words: The Great Depression.

Beta Sigma Phi today is “a non-collegiate, non-sectarian, non-political friendship organization open to women aged 18 or older,” according to its website. It has 165,000 members in the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Australia and other nations. Each year, its chapters raise more than $3 million and work more than 200,000 volunteer hours.

Each year, on the occasion of its Founder’s Day celebration in late April, Beta Sigma Phi local chapters around the world select a woman of outstanding character and achievement for local Women of the Year awards. Beta Sigma Phi has three chapters in Webster City.