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Area residents receive President's Volunteer Service Awards
YOUNGSTOWN
Five Mahoning Valley residents are recipients of the President’s Volunteer Service Award for 2014.
Nominated for the award by A Way With Words Foundation and chosen for the honor by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the award recipients are:
Anthony Spano, founder and volunteer executive director of The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley.
Rachell Joy, a part-time graphic designer at YSU.
Madonna Chism Pinkard, director of community relations for WFMJ/WBCB Television Inc.
Kelly Stevens and A.C. McCullough, weekday on-air personalities who work together at WHOT-FM (101.1 FM, “Hot 101”) radio.
The President’s Council created the award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.
A Way With Words Foundation Inc. will present the awards during a ceremony at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Newport Library Meeting Room, 3730 Market St., Youngstown, said Brenda Rider, founder of A Way With Words Foundation, which was a 2010 recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Recognizing and honoring volunteers sets a standard for service, encourages a sustained commitment to civic participation and inspires others to make service a central part of their lives, Rider said.
A quick look at the award recipients.
Anthony Spano
Spano, employed in YSU’s office of parking services, is founder and volunteer executive director of The Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, a nonprofit organization that provides charitable and financial support to local organizations that share its goal of improving the lives of chronically/terminally ill children. The foundation provides grants of up to $5,000.
Rachell Joy
An actress/singer, she is a former performer with the U.S.O. She is a member of Top Hat Productions Board of Trustees and works with Top Hat’s summer youth-theater workshop. Joy often travels the East Coast with Brian Palumbo and Jeffrey Chann providing music concerts at Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Centers. She is president of Lost Then Found Ministries, a faith-based service and education organization, and has been involved in Christian services at the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center. In 1999, she was Volunteer of the Year for the Windsor House Foundation.
Madonna Chism Pinkard
A Youngstown native, a product of the Youngstown City Schools and a graduate of YSU, Pinkard is affiliated with numerous civic and volunteer organizations.
Among them are the Trumbull County League of Women Voters, Greater Warren/Youngstown Urban League and the Dress for Success Board of Directors. Her community service has garnered her several honors including the YWCA- Woman of the Year and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Mahoning Valley Big Sister of the Year Award.
Pinkard, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, coordinates community relations between WFMJ/WBCB Television Inc. and its local communities in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer County in Pennsylvania.
Kelly Stevens and A.C. McCoullough
A.C. and Kelly, who recently marked 26 years on the air together, have been involved with many charities over that time.
They work with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. “It has become a passion with us ... helping ACS raise money for research and to provide services to cancer patients,” Stevens said.
They also work with the March of Dimes March for Babies, and through HOT-101, have helped raise funds to purchase coats for area children through the Operation Warm project. Other programs include Toys for Tots, Put Kids First through the Youngstown Rotary, Salvation Army, American Heart Association, Rotary and schools, churches, youth programs, animal rescue organizations and civic organizations.