Wartburg College recently recognized three outstanding young alumni for service to their communities.

The Young Alumni Award honors graduates from the past 15 years who are living the four pillars of the Wartburg College mission statement: leadership, service, faith and learning.

This year’s recipients are:

Krista Ullestad Kilgus of Denver, Colo., graduated from Wartburg in 2003 and spent a year as a full-time volunteer with Urban Servant Corps in Denver, serving the inner city. She went on to teach kindergarten and earn a master’s degree before returning to Urban Servant Corps as its executive director. Kilgus now recruits, trains and directs the program’s full-time volunteers. She’s a charter member of House for All Sinners and Saints, a mission congregation in Denver, and she’s a Wartburg West National Advisory Board member. Kilgus is a former board member of Capitol Hill United Neighbors, a participant in Capitol Hill United Ministries and a member of Community Shares of Colorado Executive Leadership Institute.

Matt McNamara of West Des Moines is a 2002 alumnus who served two terms as Wartburg’s student body president and has continued being a leader as a manager of collections and recovery at John Deere Financial in Johnston. He was appointed to serve on the board of directors of the John Deere Political Action Committee, chosen for the American Financial Services Association (AFSA) Leadership Development Program and earned an MBA from the University of Iowa. McNamara co-chaired the United Way giving campaign for John Deere in 2009. As president of the congregation council at Windsor Heights Lutheran Church, he guided the church through a $4 million campaign to remodel facilities. McNamara also volunteers with Junior Achievement and his son’s Boy Scouts troop.

Michael Greenwald of Keokuk helped create the veterinary practice manager position he currently holds at Krichel Animal Hospital, where he oversees a staff of 16. The 2006 graduate also manages the finances at Schleier and Associates Family Dentistry, which he owns with his wife, Lacey Ebert Greenwald, also a 2006 graduate. He’s served three years on the Keokuk Concert Association and one year on the Keokuk Fine Arts Council. He has served on the church council at First Lutheran Church, helped integrate technology into the worship services, founded a men’s ministry group and shared his musical gifts with the choir. As president of the Keokuk Chamber of Commerce and a founding member of the Greater Keokuk Young Professionals, he’s dedicated to raising the town’s profile in an effort to bring more young professionals to the community.

The three honorees were presented with their awards at a banquet on campus April 8.