The King County Council awarded nine citizens the Martin Luther King Jr. Medal of Distinguished Service on Feb. 27. And for the fourth year, councilmembers awarded individuals in their district who have answered the question by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “What are you doing for others?”

On the Eastside, Amy Biggs director of the Snoqualmie Valley Transportation (SVT) was not expecting to be recognized by Councilmember Kathy Lambert, who represents District 3.

“I’m just honored,” Biggs said. “It was very kind of Kathy to even think of me. I’m really honored.”

Biggs joined SVT as director in 2012, when the organization had lost funding due to cutbacks during the Great Recession. Biggs helped to secure the contract with King County Metro Transit.

“In a rural area, transportation is life,” Biggs said. “If you don’t have a car, how do you get around? How do you get to [the] food bank, medicine, doctor or dialysis? Transportation is life in a rural area.”

In order to not lose more connections in the Valley, Metro contracted with SVT for the first time to provide services in Duvall, Carnation, Fall City, Snoqualmie and North Bend. SVT was the first company to provide door-to-door as well as fixed-route transportation, through the contract with Metro’s “Community Connections” program. SVT’S success encouraged Metro to expand its alternative services program.

Lambert previously said she was excited to present the Medal of Distinguished Service to Biggs. She added that Biggs has done a “tremendous” job of helping residents in the Valley to access reliable transportation through SVT.

“Thanks to her dedication to the area, residents are able to get to medical appointments, their jobs, the grocery store, and more,” Lambert said in a release.