Thank you to all who attended our Celebration Breakfast this past Thursday. We hope you enjoyed seeing the results of all the great things we have been able to accomplish in the last year. Watch a short video of the event.

We would like to take this opportunity to recognize all those who received honors at the Celebration Breakfast.

Campaign Awards:

The You've Got a Friend Award is given to the best Campaign by a Partner Agency, this year's recipient was the Friendship Centers of Emmet County. Not only did they have a spectacular employee participation rate, but they pledged more than $1,000 as a first year campaign.

The When You Believe Award is given to the best first year campaign. This year Fletch's received this award for their amazing employee participation rate and pledges of more than $2,200. Not only did they do a spectacular job of encouraging employees to give, but they matched their employees pledges dollar for dollar, contributing more than $4,500 to our campaign.

The Campaigner of the Year Award was given to Lisa Hoyt for her creativity and exemplary leadership in coordinating the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce Campaign.

The Outstanding Campaign Award was given to Circuit Controls Corporation for increasing their campaign contributions by 154% and engaging more employees than the previous year.

John Newton Award:

John Newton was an active member of our community.  Not only was he a Char-Em United Way board member and president but he also volunteered his time and talents for many other local organizations.  Unfortunately his term with Char-Em United Way ended when he suffered massive injuries from a car accident in September 2000.  A model for tenacity and perseverance, he fought his way back from his injuries.  He had to relearn how to perform all those daily tasks that most of us take for granted.  Eventually he was able to return to work for Bank One.  However, he was unexpectedly taken from us in the Fall of 2001 by complications of the accident.

Char-Em United Way created the John Newton Award of Excellence in 2002 to commemorate John’s life and the gifts he gave to our community.  The award is awarded to both an individual and a organization who, through their actions, gave significantly to the health and human services in Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

Individual Recipient: Mary Obzut

Mary has been volunteering in our community for more than 20 years with a goal of making people feel good.

She has been a volunteer at the Women’s Resource Center for seventeen years, providing free hair styling to clients at the Safe Home. Beyond this commitment Mary has been a volunteer to juveniles in the court system for 6 years, led the Single Parent program at the United Methodist Church for five years, and been a volunteer at NMRH for 4 years and at Project Connect for 3 years. 

In February of this year Mary led the hair division of Project Connect bringing more than 13 stylists together to provide free services to our neighbors in need. More than 150 haircuts were provided with a total value of more than $4,500. Not only did Mary bring our community members together to provide these services, but she encouraged her clients to support Project Connect by donating food and hygiene items that would be given to those in need. Mary and her clients contributed nearly $1,500 dollars worth of food and hygiene products for Project Connect.

One guest receiving a haircut had this to say, “Thank You for what you do, it’s obviously a god sent and if it weren’t for people like you who knows what the world would be like.”

Mary is a great example of an active community member who gives significantly to assist others in our community. There’s no doubt that many individuals have gained a higher self-esteem after working with Mary.

We honor Mary for her outstanding commitment to improving the lives of individuals in Charlevoix and Emmet Counties.

Organizational Recipient: Petoskey High School Family, Career and Community Leaders of America

Ten years ago Petoskey High School’s FCCLA formed as the student leadership organization affiliated with the Early Childhood Education Career Tech Class. FCCLA promotes personal growth and leadership development through Family and Consumer Sciences education. Focusing on the multiple roles of family member, wage earner and community leader, members develop skills for life through character development; creative and critical thinking; interpersonal communications; practical knowledge; and career preparation.

Barb Kennedy has been the driving force behind the student leadership group; she pushed the school to develop the class and leadership group and has been an outstanding advisor for ten years. Barb and the members of FCCLA volunteer in their community, in the school, and assist in improving family units throughout our two county area. In the past school year FCCLA members have contributed more than 420 hours of person power for health and human service agencies throughout Emmet and Charlevoix Counties. These hours have provide more than $8,500 worth of person power.

Students have hosted food and hygiene drives for Project Connect, provided free babysitting so parents could attend conferences of the Poverty Reduction Initiative, assisted SEE-North with community science education, made presentations to students regarding health and wellness topics while also planning special events for parents and their children in an effort to enhance the family unit.

Petoskey’s FCCLA has been recognized as a 5 Star Chapter Participating in 5 State Projects, they received the Power of One award for completing all required modules and seven of their members will be attending the National Competition this year.

Finally, Barb Kennedy was named Master Advisor and received the Advisor Service Award for 10 years of outstanding service. We honor Petoskey High School’s FCCLA for their outstanding commitment to improving the lives of individuals in Charlevoix and Emmet Counties.