A retired Machinists Union member from SeaTac has been honored again by the White House for his outstanding community service in 2010.

George Braun, who has retired after a career as a Machinist at Boeing, has received a bronze-level President's Volunteer Service Award for his volunteer work last year. Braun donated 177 hours of his time to community service projects, easily passing the standard required to receive the award.

This is the second year in a row that the White House has honored Braun, Last year, he also received a bronze-level award for his volunteer work in 2009.

In recognition of his contribution, Braun received a bronze pin, a certificate and a letter signed by President Obama thanking him for "the kind of commitment to your community that moves America a step closer to its great promise."

"Thank you for your devotion to service and for doing all you can to shape a better tomorrow for our great nation," the President wrote.

Braun performed his community service through the Machinists Volunteer Program, which is the public service arm of Machinists Union District Lodge 751 in Seattle. However, Braun also volunteers as the cook for the monthly District 751 Retired Club meetings in Seattle.

As a group, Machinists Union MVPs donated nearly 6,200 hours of community service work in 2010, which earned the organization a gold-level award from the White House.

"Our union has two goals," said Tom Wroblewski, the Machinists' district president. "We want to make the places we work better, and we want to improve the communities where we live. The outstanding work done by George and the other MVPs is making a difference, and making our corner of America a better place."

Braun's award was announced on March 8 during a meeting of the union's district governing council. He will be honored along with seven other Presidential Award-winning volunteers on April 2 during the union's annual MVP banquet, which honors members of the Machinists Volunteer Program for their community service.

In all, 684 Machinists Union members took part in 144 different community activities in 2010. They gave a total of 6,197.5 hours of their time to 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.

In addition, District 751 volunteers took part in a range of activities that raised more than $276,000 for Guide Dogs of America in 2010.