A SeaTac man has been honored by the White House for his community service efforts as a retired member of the Machinists Union.

George Braun, who retired from Boeing in 1995 after a 37-year career, was recently presented with a bronze-level Presidential Service Award for his volunteer work in 2009.

The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation gives the awards to individuals who can certify that they did more than 100 hours of volunteer community service in a year.

In a letter, President Obama thanked Braun for his effort, saying "your volunteer service demonstrates the kind of commitment to your community that moves America a step closer to its great promise."

Braun did most of his community service work as a member of the Machinists Volunteer Program, sponsored by Machinists District Lodge 751 in Seattle. In April, Braun was honored for being the top volunteer among District 751's retirees, having donated more than 110 hours to various community service projects.

In addition, Braun also volunteers as the cook for District 751's Retired Club meetings in Seattle each week.

Braun was one of four District 751 Machinists to receive the bronze-level awards from the White House. As an organization, District 751 also was honored by the President's Council with a gold-level award, given to groups that donate more than 1,000 hours to community service.

In 2009, 464 Machinists Union members took part in 103 different community service projects, giving a total of 3,721 volunteer hours from projects that ranged from food drives and holiday bell ringing for the Salvation Army, to building 10 wheelchair ramps for home-bound people around Puget Sound.

District 751 volunteers also raised close to a quarter-million dollars for Guide Dogs of America in 2009.

"This year is our 75th anniversary and our theme is 'Building a Better Community,'" said District 751 President Tom Wroblewski. "Through the work of MVPs like George and through our work with Guide Dogs of America, we are building better communities in places like SeaTac, and making our little part of America a better place."