The United Way of Southwest Michigan has announced the recipients of its annual Volunteer Leadership Awards.
United Way Senior Director Zack East tells us the awards were given out at the organization’s Annual Celebration, held on April 23 at the Mendel Center. More than 300 volunteers, organizations, and donors were on hand.
East says the Margaret B. Upton Volunteer Leadership Award, Berrien County’s most prestigious lifetime honor for community service, went to Kathy Craig.
“She was very instrumental in helping to put the community food network together, which really is just years worth of work to make a network of different places and organizations that come together to really assist residents in areas like the Benton Heights area,” East said.
Craig has also worked with Habitat for Humanity, the Boys & Girls Clubs, the SMCAA, and the Emerge Innovation Hub.
Meanwhile, the Judge Susan L. Dobrich Volunteer Leadership Award went to Cass County Commissioner Roseann Marchetti. East says she’s been involved in nearly every corner of civic life in the county, from the Edwardsburg Food Pantry to the Southwest Michigan Planning Commission to the renovation of the county’s 125-year-old historic courthouse.
The evening introduced a new honor: the inaugural Volunteer United Excellence in Service Award. Its first recipient was Linda Thomson, recognized posthumously for nearly 30 years of service through United Way’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program.
“She is definitely one of those people that really embodied the word volunteer so much more so than people who might do something once or twice and call it a day. Linda really made it her life’s work to help people.”
Also at the celebration, Alison Harrop of United Christian Services received the Excellence in Impact Award for creating Coffee Connections, while Gast Manufacturing took home the Whirlpool Community Commitment Award for all its efforts to support the community. East says Gast goes the extra mile to serve.
“Every one in four employees at Gast are doing some level of volunteer work throughout the year. And for an organization locally with hundreds of people in it, that’s a pretty awesome statistic. So they’ve really built volunteerism into their culture, and we were excited to help recognize them for it.”
East says it’s important to highlight efforts like these for the community with the celebration each year.
“What’s really happening? How are things changing? How are people’s lives being improved? And that’s really what celebration is truly all about.”
Cathy Summers of Indiana Michigan Power’s Cook Nuclear Plant and Jill Tooman of Western Diversified Plastics/Engineered Plastic Services were named Employee Campaign Coordinators of the Year.
Also at the event, Berrien RESA received the Live United Organization Award, honored for a growing campaign and deep commitment to the more than 24,000 students, educators, and families it serves. The Live United Individual Award went to Thaddeus Hackworth, United Way’s new board chair, whose energy and genuine investment in the work have already left a mark on the organization and the people around him.
East says between awards, guests played a community trivia round hosted by Pat Moody. Attendees also watched Hackworth go head-to-head with a panel of community contestants in a game of “Are You Smarter Than a Board Member?” hosted by Alex Gallert.
Photo: Kathy Craig (left) received the Margaret B. Upton Volunteer Leadership Award and Roseann Marchetti (right) received the Judge Susan L. Dobrich Volunteer Leadership Award at United Way of Southwest Michigan’s Annual Celebration on April 23. Each award comes with a $5,000 grant the honoree may direct to a nonprofit of their choice.
