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Hoffmans, Backus are winners
LIMA — The Lima News, NBC Lima and the United Way of Greater Lima today announced the local winners of the 2009 Jefferson Awards for volunteer service in the community.
The Jefferson Awards judges selected eight individuals from 28 nominations submitted for the prestigious national public service award. All eight winners will receive bronze medallions, cash awards and recognition at the Jefferson Awards banquet on March 24 at the Veterans Memorial Civic and Convention Center. At the banquet, one of the eight local winners will be announced to go to the National Jefferson Awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in June.
“Although we have selected eight of the 28 nominees to receive this award,” said Dan Endicott, chair of the Jefferson Awards judges’ committee, “every nomination is a winner because everything these people do makes our community a better place to live and work.”
The eight winners of the Jefferson Awards are:
Jerry Backus — Delphos
For more than 50 years, the local community has benefited greatly from Jerry’s generous volunteerism. He has been involved in many projects, but ranking high on the list is “Operation Troop Support,” developed and spearheaded by Jerry.
Jerry proposed a project that supports troops working to protect our freedom to the Knights of Columbus. He chaired and coordinated “Operation Troop Support.” He solicited contributions of material and money to gather what was needed. Through this project, 211 packages — weighing about 2,500 pounds, spending over $2,000 in postage and with an estimated merchandise value of $6,300 — were sent to our troops serving overseas.
In addition to packages sent through “Operation Troop Support,” the group learned about “Hearts for Baghdad,” a project organized by volunteer military personnel. The project provides humanitarian assistance, such as medical, hygiene, school, clothing, toys, shoes and infant supplies to clinics reaching out to children, young people and widows. “Operation Troop Support” shipped more than 300 stuffed animals, dolls, toys, and games, as well as boxes of school and medical supplies to “Hearts for Baghdad”.
His nominator wrote, “Jerry’s willingness to help is a constant inspiration to others. He is always looking for solutions to problems that others are facing.”
Elmer and Dorothy Hoffman — Delphos
Elmer and Dorothy work hand-in-hand to help others in their community. For the past 16 years, they have been active volunteers and board members of the Delphos Canal Commission, working to preserve the history of their community. They have been among the historic preservation groups’ most active members and spend hours each week working on exhibits, attending board meetings and working behind the scenes. They have spearheaded many annual fundraisers. Building cases for display, cleaning, routine maintenance and manning the museum during public visitation times are only a few of the tasks they have been involved with.
In addition to the Delphos Canal Commission, Dorothy served for more that 12 years as a board member and pantry organizer for the Delphos Church Women United – InterFaith Thrift Shop. She served in this capacity 10-20 hours per week, delivering supplies, funds or groceries to needy families.
Dorothy and Elmer also volunteer for the St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church hospital visitation program, monthly parish bingo games, Red Cross blood drives and the annual Canal Days celebration. They are outstanding examples of volunteers serving their community. Dorothy and Elmer Hoffman are outstanding examples of Jefferson Award winners.
George Herbert Cox — Spencerville
Since 1980, more than 4,200 children have benefited from a program initiated by George Cox. Early in 1980, George approached VFW Post 6772 in Spencerville and asked them to host a Christmas party for underprivileged children. He reached out to people in his community and asked them to sponsor a child. Children were invited from Allen Acres Children Home and the response was overwhelming. That was 28 years ago and George continues to organize and manage this event. The number of children and sponsor families grows each year. Children are now invited from Crossroads Crisis Center, The Samaritan House, Allen County Children’s Services and other area agencies.
1980 was a busy year for George. That was the year he initiated the Chicken and Fish Fry through the VFW with all proceeds going to community youth programs. Since its inception, $250,000 has been donated to youth programs and area schools.
George has always had a soft heart for children and a lot of his volunteer efforts benefit the youth in his community. At one of the early Christmas parties for the children, a clown unit entertained the children. When George saw how much happiness the clowns provided for the children, he joined with several others to start a clown unit with their local VFW. Since that time, George, better known as “Herbie the Clown,” entertains each year at the Christmas party and during the year he visits nursing homes to make clown critters and visit with the residents. He also travels to the VA hospital to entertain the veterans.
The Jefferson Awards honors individuals for their community service and George’s community service knows no limits. He is a 14-gallon blood donor for the Red Cross, volunteers at the Good Samaritan Food Pantry and when the Spencerville Youth Athletic Association needed a volunteer to cut grass at the ball fields, George jumped on his mower to get the fields ready for the kids. George and his wife, Mary, make fruit baskets every Christmas and deliver them to the elderly and shut-ins. They deliver 40-50 baskets each year and have been doing this for the past 45 years.
Five years ago, George volunteered to drive five World War II veterans to Washington, D.C., to see the World War II Memorial. His nominator was one of those veterans.
Mary (Mae) Cartmell — Wapakoneta
Mary Cartmell was instrumental in the formation of God’s Storehouse, a local food pantry. When Fisher Cheese closed its doors in 1983, many people in the Wapakoneta area were out of work and did not qualify for any other form of assistance and were in desperate need. Mary, along with a group of other citizens, met to find a way to fill a need for the people struggling to make ends meet in the economic recession of the 1980s. God’s Storehouse continues to help people in the Wapak community. Mary has worked in a number of positions with the food pantry. She has been in charge of publicity, found and scheduled volunteers. As a former accountant, Mary was instrumental in obtaining a 501 3(c) status for the organization. In 2007, at the age of 82, she decided she should mentor a new treasurer. She is the only original member of the board who is still volunteering today after nearly 26 years in operation and continues to volunteer regularly and now delivers weekly food to a client who has no transportation.
Dorothy German — Pandora
Dorothy German was nominated for her volunteer commitment to provide eye glasses to those in need through VOSH, Volunteers for Optometric Services to Humanity. VOSH was the brainchild of a Pandora optometrist, Dr. Groman. VOSH was a national program and needed a distribution point in Ohio to collect and refurbish glasses. Glasses from all over Ohio come to Pandora where they are inspected, cleaned and tested and then packaged and labeled for distribution on the next mission trip. Every year, more than 12,000 glasses are sent to such places as Poland, Ukraine, Costa Rice and many more. All this is done in a little church in Pandora with Dorothy at the helm. Her nominator said, “Dorothy is a bulldog when it comes to administering and sustaining VOSH.” Since 1992 Dorothy is at the church every morning from 9 a.m. to noon and rarely misses a day. She has met the challenge of coordinating volunteer hours of more than 150 volunteers a year. She has worked to make the site more efficient and also serves as their secretary and treasurer.
Dorothy works with the Putnam County Probation Department in coordinating volunteer hours for community service for juvenile offenders, Putnam County Job Placement Service, Girl Scout troops, church youth groups, grange organizations and many other organizations. Her volunteer efforts have provided better vision for thousands of people she’ll never meet. Her volunteer time with VOSH has spanned the last 16 years and she has traveled on two of the VOSH mission trips. Her lifeblood has poured into VOSH and its success is due in a large part to Dorothy’s leadership.
Dan Groman — Columbus Grove
Dan Groman’s greatest volunteer achievement may be that through his efforts, he has taught his community to be service oriented.
A few years ago, the Bluffton University baseball team was traveling to Florida for spring baseball and their bus was involved in a tragic accident resulting in the death of several student athletes. As Dan saw the youth baseball players trying to understand what had happened to the team, he came up with the idea to move the original university field to the village park in order to give the youth team (and high school team) a safe field they could be proud of and one that would forever be a memorial to Bluffton University ball players. He organized and led a group of volunteers, including youth players and parents, to cut, move and place more than 1,500 pieces of sod from the university to the village park. Now, after more work to detail the field, the kids in Bluffton have a field they can be proud of. Dan wanted to make the entire complex special and spent many extra hours painting the dugouts and even bringing a projector to show images on the dugouts that he could trace and paint to make the facility really special. This was a unique idea and effort by Dan Groman that is understood and appreciated by the entire community.
Dan’s volunteer efforts are seen in many areas. He has been a baseball coach for a number of years and has worked to improve the junior high field, covering benches and improving drainage. Thanks to Dan, the Bluffton area has seen 15 area boys earn the distinction of Eagle Scout. Dan has been a scoutmaster for nearly a decade, organizing many service projects for the scouts, including waterway cleanups and roadside cleanups. He recently helped to organize coworkers to restore two locally built military vehicles, a Word War II Sherman Tank and a 1917 World War I Liberty truck for the Allen County Museum.
Dan’s nominator said, “Dan has been able to bring many groups together to help others. From the adults and youth of Bluffton, to his colleagues at work, to the Scouts and others, Dan is a leader in motivating people to help each other.”
Peter M. Noyes — Wapakoneta
Peter Noyes nomination for a Jefferson Award centers around his work with local veterans, with major support given to the Veteran Administration’s Medical Center in Dayton. He makes two trips every month to the VA Medical Center to visit the veterans and provide them with playing cards, books, magazines, etc. He often takes photos for them to send to their families. He organized local fund raisers and raised approximately $7,000 which provided video cameras, television sets and other items needed for the VA hospital.
Pete works with local school children to actively involve them in making cards for Valentine’s Day, Veteran’s Day and Christmas for the veterans. On Memorial Day he assists patients in nursing homes in getting outside to view the Memorial Day Parade and ceremony at the National Cemetery.
Each October, Pete begins working on Christmas for the veterans in nursing homes and the hospitals. He visits with each of the 200 patients to determine what they need or want for Christmas and purchases these items for them.
Making life a little brighter for our veterans is important to Peter Noyes and his volunteer efforts are a testimony to his commitment to those who served our country.
Bernadette Schoonover — Lima
Bernadette Schoonover was nomination for a Jefferson Award for her never-ending list of community volunteer involvement. Most recently, Bernadette was part of the YWCA Task Force which was formed to insure the continued existence of the YWCA Fitness and Aquatics Center. She made and sold caramels to raise monies to help the task force. Approximately $2,000 was made to help with advertising to stimulate new membership for the YW.
Through her involvement with the Altrusa Club, she has volunteered with events such as the Salvation Army Kettle Drive, the Scrabble Event for the Literacy Council, YWCA Christmas Tree Festival and numerous other Altrusa projects.
Bernadette has been a volunteer tutor for the Literacy Council for the past six years. Her work with the Literacy Council enables adults to set and achieve personal goals through improved literacy skills. Literacy Council Director, Ken Blanchard said, “once a group finds a doer (like Bernadette) they don’t let them get away.”
Once Bernadette takes on a project, she gives and gives and gives of herself. Whether it’s a project of the Altrusa Club, work at her church, Unity Church of Lima, or a project she tackles on her own, Bernadette Schoonover is an amazing volunteer, and very much deserving of a Jefferson Award for her public service.
Judges for the Jefferson Awards are Dan Endicott, chair; Alberta Lee, retired Allen County Commissioner; Dr. Gene Wright, previous Jefferson Award winner; Debra McCurdy, President, Rhodes State College; Leila Osting, Human Resource Director, The Lima News; Bob Ulm, Maverick Media; Tom Hendrixson, WLIO Videographer; Jose Nogueras, Ohio Northern University; Susan Heitkamp, Auglaize County; Mary Jo Bockrath, Ottawa Chamber of Commerce; and Tom Thompson, United Way of Greater Lima.