United Way Officials Recognize Volunteers

Awards were given out at Livingston County United Way's Annual Meeting and Volunteer Breakfast Thursday morning, but if David Rex, president of Rex Materials Group and outgoing United Way board president, has his way, the organization isn’t about to rest on its collective laurels.

Rex, of Hartland, said he firmly believes it’s time for everyone in the county to roll up their collective sleeves and pitch in.

As he prepared to hand over the gavel to incoming Board President Peter Bowen of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney during the early morning banquet at Crystal Gardens Banquet Center in Howell, he noted that although United Way has come far, there is still more work to be done.

As a community, it’s necessary to overcome “self-imposed boundaries” because they “keep us from winning this battle,” he said.

The event took on a thoughtful and reflective tone as Rex acknowledged steps have been made in the right direction; since last year, when the collaborative Hunger Council was established, the county’s five million meal shortfall has been reduced by 3.8 million meals.

A new award honoring the memory of late local businessman and United Way Volunteer extraordinaire Randy Rudisill also served as a tribute to the last business he built in a partnership with Dave Donie.

American Compounding Specialties of Fowlerville received the first-ever Randy Rudisill Business of the Year Award at the early morning meeting.

The room was packed. “It’s just affirming to the mission that so many people got up for a 7:30 a.m. breakfast and are a part of us, one way or another,” said Nancy A. Russo, Livingston County United Way executive director.

Rudisill, an Ann Arbor resident who owned American Compounding Specialties, served as a former United Way campaign chairperson and on the United Way board of directors from 1995-2008.  He also was active in a number of additional community activities and boards.

Lauraine Hoensheid, a retiring board member, discussed Rudisill's legacy.

"Randy was and always will be remembered as a true friend to the Livingston County United Way and the Livingston County community," the Brighton resident said. "He was always organized and expected results." His wife, Sally, daughter, Annie, and niece, Emma, were on hand as Rena Pomaville accepted the award on behalf of the company.

Pomaville, of Brighton, attributed the company earning the award to one simple thing. “We did have the benefit of working with Randy every day,” she said, adding that the positive impact his actions had on the community was evident and gives the company the impetus to continue his legacy of service.

Past President Piet Lindhout of Lindhout Associates Architects of Brighton received the Donald Epley Lifetime Community Service Award, recognizing his commitment to volunteerism, service and the Livingston County United Way, as well as his impact on the community. He, along with Rich Perlberg of the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, and community volunteers Hoensheid and Jean Eckman, were honored with awards for their combined 52 years of service to the board. (All are retiring from the board, which has term limits.)

A video showed the surprise of Brighton's Dawn Boss, of Boss Engineering, Inc. in Howell, who was out of the country for the meeting, as she was awarded the Charles W. Itsell Volunteer of the Year Award, which acknowledged her extraordinary volunteer service of the past year.

Other awards handed out at the event included:

• "Spirit of Michigan" awards went to First Impressions Printing & Graphics and Citizens Insurance Company, both of Howell. 
• The Youth Organization of the Year Award went to 2011 honors Ranger’s 4-H Club of Hartland for its community service. Russo said the group tended one of four gardens established last year to help achieve the goals of the Hunger Council, a collaborative effort of organizations throughout the county that was formed last year with the intent to reduce hunger county-wide. The club planted and cared for a garden last summer, growing more than 1,700 pounds of produce it donated to Gleaners and, more specifically, the Livingston County Meals on Wheels program.
• Gabriel Seck, 14, a student at Three Fires Middle School in Howell, earned the Youth of Distinction Award for outstanding service to her community. Seck, who maintains a straight A average, is involved in a number of activities, including The Fuel to Play 60 program, which leads other students to living a more healthy life. Debbie Miller, of Howell, a family and consumer science teacher at the school who teaches Seck, said, “This young person exemplifies selflessness and caring. She is only beginning her journey of community service and devotion.”