2007 Booth Spirit Awards Honor Unsung Heroes
Volunteers of America Ohio River Valley hosted its first-ever Booth Spirit Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007 at The Cintas Center. More than 280 individuals attended the Luncheon to honor this year’s winners. Cammy Dierking of WKRC-TV emceed the event. Lt. Cindy Combs of the Cincinnati Police Department was keynote speaker.
“We’re delighted to publicly thank these community heroes who pour so much of themselves into the betterment of our community,” said Chris Lohrman, president and CEO of Volunteers of America Ohio River Valley. “Their efforts mirror the spirit of our founders, Maude and Ballington Booth, who worked tirelessly to leave the world a better place.”
The winners of the inaugural 2007 Booth Spirit Awards are:
Greater Cincinnati Volunteer
O’dell Owens, M.D., M.P.H., Hamilton County Coroner. Owens is president and chairman of the board for Project GRAD (Graduation Really Achieves Dreams), a collaborative of the Cincinnati Public School system. Project GRAD helps children from low income families earn their high school diploma and graduate college.
Community Organization
Forest Park Women’s Club. The group contributes time, talent and treasure to the community, providing everything from funding for fire department equipment to scholarships to park benches and other beautification efforts to hand-made quilts and comforts for hospital patients and traumatized children.
Northern Kentucky Sanitation District No. 1 Employee Zapper Program. The district and its employees contributed more than 9,000 hours in community service over the past six years. This year, the Zapper community expects to spend 1,000 hours in service to eight different social service agencies in Northern Kentucky.
Corporate Entity or Representative
North Side Bank & Trust. More than two dozen senior employees hold leadership positions in philanthropic organizations in the community. Additionally, the bank provides administrative support for Churches Active in Northside, helps with fund-raising for various local organizations and provides hands-on community service.
Mr. Larry Stone has a long record of community service in communities and several area schools. His development of Rumpke’s “Slow Down To Get Around” slogan and campaign is in place in hundreds of municipalities around the world.
Rumpke Consolidated Companies, Inc. has positively impacted thousands of people through its educational safety team programs. Rumpke’s newest educational program, Students Against Crashes, is an interactive learning course designed to enhance the safe operation of motor vehicles by young, inexperienced drivers.
Legal / Law Enforcement
Citizens on Patrol Program, Cincinnati Police Department, Lt. Larry Powell and Officer Teri Windeler. In 2006, more than 1,200 volunteers donated 33,000 hours of time and effort to make Cincinnati’s neighborhoods safer. They also helped remove more than 2,000 junk vehicles from city streets and private property.
Vortex Unit, Cincinnati Police Department, Capt. Kim Frey and Lt. Bruce Hoffbauer. In the first four months of this year, the 35-member Vortex Unit made 1,348 arrests, seized more than $100,000 in currency, and recovered 47 firearms from the streets of Cincinnati.
John “Satch” Coletta, Delhi Township Chief of Police. His work with National Night Out, Neighborhood Watch, annual Skirts Game, and extraordinary community policing techniques send a consistent message to criminals that residents and police are working together to make safe and healthy neighborhoods.
Mayor’s Choice
Eric Villegas, Ph.D. is Chairman of the Health & Environment Committee of the Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet. Villegas has contributed his knowledge, experience and time to show others how to take responsibility for improving their environments through litter prevention, beautification and waste reduction.