YMCA honors Volunteers of the Year

SPECIAL TO THE VINDICATOR | At a recent meeting of the YMCA of Youngstown, awards were presented to volunteers in four categories of service. Each of the awards is named in honor of an individual that has served the Y and has been instrumental in promoting its mission and include Dick Bennett, former chief executive officer; Howard B. “Howdy” Friend, board member; the late James B. Greene, board member; and the late Joe Check, staff member. Denise Stewart, an instructor at the Kent State University Police Academy and YMCA board member, was recognized with the Check Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award; Tom Gacse, YMCA board president, praised Stewart during the meeting for her 34 years of service to the Y. Sara DeAscentis was awarded the Bennett Spirit Award in recognition of her work for a Y centennial event and years of service to Camp Fitch. Rick Dearing, president and CEO of Dearing Compressor and Pump Co., was a recipient of the first “Howdy” Friend Living Our Cause Award for his contributions to the annual support campaign through his gift as well as motivating others to donate to the cause. The Greene Governance Award was presented to Phil Kocon, principal at the accounting firm Hill, Barth and King. Kocon has offered leadership in his continued effort to improve the Y’s financial reporting procedures in his position as treasurer of the board of trustees since 2008. Award winners and namesake individuals of the awards gathered following the presentation; they include Kocon, left, Bennett, DeAscentis, Friend, Dearing and Stewart.