Community Foundation Recognizes Heart of Gold Recipients
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Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
Kosciusko County Community Foundation recognized 46 local individuals for having Hearts of Gold Tuesday night. The foundation held its annual Heart of Gold awards ceremony at Center Lake Pavilion. The program recognizes ordinary people in the community who perform extraordinary acts of kindness and service for others. Nominees must live, work or volunteer in Kosciusko County. This year for the first time, the event recognized one service club and one nonprofit for extraordinary service. They were nominated by other nonprofits and social service clubs. The Nonprofit Award went to North Webster Community Center, which was nominated by North Webster Food Pantry and Dixie Sternwheeler. A Service Club Award went to Warsaw Breakfast Optimist Club, nominated by Warsaw Kiwanis Club. Heart of Gold recipients were recognized with plaques. There were 10 recipients whose volunteer stories were highlighted. Jay Clark was nominated by Bill Leslie. Clark has volunteered for Combined Community Services for the past three years. He does not allow his own visual disability to keep him from service, but eagerly helps with whatever task he is given. His nominator said “his positive attitude and never-give-up mentality make him a joy to have around. He enhances our programs and allows us to serve people better.” Karen Hill was nominated by Michelle Boxell. Hill began volunteering for Cardinal Services two years ago, lending her professional expertise in Information Technology to support the organization’s IT Department. Bob Harness was nominated by Mackenzie Cloutier. Harness spent 25 years as a public school teacher. Upon retiring, he volunteered his service to CASA and the American Red Cross. Through CASA, he represented the voice of eight child victims of abuse or neglect. Since 2007, he has been deployed four times as an American Red Cross volunteers first serving in the aftermath of the Nappanee tornado in 2007. He has also been to Texas, Florida and Mississippi in response to natural disasters. Ron Donkers was nominated by Ot Schroeder. For the past five years, Donkers has served as the chairman of the Optimist Triathlon. Donkers served as chairman of United Way, where he volunteered many hours. He serves as the chairman of the Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll Drive. Carole Delp was nominated by Carmen Flores. For more than 10 years Delp molded young lives as a teacher at Lakeland Christian Academy. While there, she began two impactful programs that continue today: The school’s annual food drive for Combined Community Services, and a program called “Miraculous Moments for Moms,” a free afternoon daycare held twice a month and staffed by Lakeland students. Charlie Haffner was nominated by Lana Wilson. Haffner’s heart for people living in poor communities in Mexico prompted him to collect enough donations to send two ambulances to Mexico to serve two communities that were located more than 50 miles from the nearest hospital. He also collected money to send a used fire truck to Mexico to serve a community that had no fire equipment. Diana Davis was nominated by Tim Sprankle. On Monday mornings, Davis cares for the children of a young mother in her church while the mother runs errands. On Tuesday mornings, she meets with 15 Spanish speaking mothers and helps them learn English while their children are in school. Ot Schroeder was nominated by Brett Boggs, Cindy Cates and Sariah Morgan. Schroeder was the founder of a local dropout prevention effort called KC-Ed. He invited education, community and business leaders together in 2009 to ask what could be done to improve graduation rates across the county. Brooke Smalley was nominated by Pam Cook. Her parents, Gary and Deb Smalley, attended to accept her award on her behalf. While attending Tippecanoe Valley High School, she spent every summer ministering to orphans in either Panama or Romania. After high school, she earned a nursing degree at Goshen College, during which time she served many youth and missions organizations. Upon receiving her nursing degree she began her pediatric nursing career, bought a home, and settled into medical missionary service whenever she had time away from her job. Terry Wentz was nominated by daughter Ashley Wentz. Wentz has provided a homeless person with a place to stay, food for those who are hungry, rides to work and yard and house work. Wentz gets up at 5 a.m. each day to take a man to work so that he doesn’t lose his job. He helps a family get back and forth to Fort Wayne to visit their father in the hospital. He is actively involved in a jail ministry called “Kairos.”
