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The Dispatch Media Group launches the Everyday Heroes campaign and awards luncheon this year. President Brad Harmon said he plans to make it an annual tradition, and Governor John Kasich already has promised to return for next year's luncheon.
The idea is to recognize and publicize the ordinary people in central Ohio whose volunteer work enriches the community. In all, 118 people were nominated for recognition as Everyday Heroes.
From that list emerged 20 semifinalists:
Vanita Nevis, of Canal Winchester, who helps former prison inmates reintegrate into society
John Martin, of Westerville, who coaches track with the Franklin County Special Olympics
Georgeanna Haviland, of Worthington, who helps people with disabilities run races
Gabe Howard, of Reynoldsburg, who advocates for people living with mental illness
Carol Haynes, of Pickerington, who works with at-risk children
Kenny Sipes, of Pickerington, whose nonprofit Roosevelt Coffeehouse on Long Street in downtown Columbus helps fund projects to fight hunger, human trafficking and unsafe drinking water
Sarah Kersey, a Dublin teacher and cancer survivor who volunteers as a camp counselor with seriously ill children at Flying Horse Farms in Mount Gilead
Donn Ditzhazy, of the Olde Towne East neighborhood, who builds wagons and fills them with Christmas dinner for needy families
Nicole Gnezda, of Worthington, a retired art teacher who volunteers as an art therapist with children
Andrew Levitt, of the Harrison West neighborhood, who performs as drag queen Nina West and has donated about $1 million to nonprofits that benefit children in the LGBT community
Ellie Hite, of Carroll, whose AngelWorks Foundation works with children with cancer
Michael Doody, of the Southern Orchards neighborhood east of German Village, who founded the community garden Kossuth Street Gardens
Sue Wolfe, of the South Side, who battles against infant mortality
Joyce Guenther, of Lancaster, who organizes blood drives
Patti Bernett, a recovered addict who works with women inmates in the Alcoholics Anonymous support group at the Delaware County jail
Robert Shyrigh, of Grove City, who has picked up litter in his neighborhood every morning for nearly 20 years
Cindy Rieman, of Hilliard, a retired teacher who tutors children in reading
Beth Fleshman, of Columbus, a hair stylist who provides free haircuts to people staying at the Columbus Ronald McDonald House while family members receive treatment at Nationwide Children's Hospital
Peter Cline, whose VETMotorsports works with injured military veterans to provide motorsports therapy
Connie Swackhammer, whose Faithful Forgotten Best Friends organization provides basic veterinary care and food for the pets of low-income and homeless people in the West and South Sides of Columbus
and the five finalists:
Meagan Warren, of Bexley, who at 14 has started a program that has donated 53,000 books to children
Marshall Cheatham, of the Olde Towne East neighborhood, who founded the Columbus Saints Drum & Bugle Corps
Howard Warner, of Upper Arlington, a retired barber who works with cancer patients whose hair is falling out from chemotherapy
Tricia Keels, of Bexley, whose Souper Heroes program has donated 100,000 meals to the local hunger-relief system
Renna Schafler from Galloway, has volunteered at North Central Mental Health's Suicide Prevention Services for 26 years
The idea is to recognize and publicize the ordinary people in central Ohio whose volunteer work enriches the community. In all, 118 people were nominated for recognition as Everyday Heroes.
From that list emerged 20 semifinalists:
Vanita Nevis, of Canal Winchester, who helps former prison inmates reintegrate into society
John Martin, of Westerville, who coaches track with the Franklin County Special Olympics
Georgeanna Haviland, of Worthington, who helps people with disabilities run races
Gabe Howard, of Reynoldsburg, who advocates for people living with mental illness
Carol Haynes, of Pickerington, who works with at-risk children
Kenny Sipes, of Pickerington, whose nonprofit Roosevelt Coffeehouse on Long Street in downtown Columbus helps fund projects to fight hunger, human trafficking and unsafe drinking water
Sarah Kersey, a Dublin teacher and cancer survivor who volunteers as a camp counselor with seriously ill children at Flying Horse Farms in Mount Gilead
Donn Ditzhazy, of the Olde Towne East neighborhood, who builds wagons and fills them with Christmas dinner for needy families
Nicole Gnezda, of Worthington, a retired art teacher who volunteers as an art therapist with children
Andrew Levitt, of the Harrison West neighborhood, who performs as drag queen Nina West and has donated about $1 million to nonprofits that benefit children in the LGBT community
Ellie Hite, of Carroll, whose AngelWorks Foundation works with children with cancer
Michael Doody, of the Southern Orchards neighborhood east of German Village, who founded the community garden Kossuth Street Gardens
Sue Wolfe, of the South Side, who battles against infant mortality
Joyce Guenther, of Lancaster, who organizes blood drives
Patti Bernett, a recovered addict who works with women inmates in the Alcoholics Anonymous support group at the Delaware County jail
Robert Shyrigh, of Grove City, who has picked up litter in his neighborhood every morning for nearly 20 years
Cindy Rieman, of Hilliard, a retired teacher who tutors children in reading
Beth Fleshman, of Columbus, a hair stylist who provides free haircuts to people staying at the Columbus Ronald McDonald House while family members receive treatment at Nationwide Children's Hospital
Peter Cline, whose VETMotorsports works with injured military veterans to provide motorsports therapy
Connie Swackhammer, whose Faithful Forgotten Best Friends organization provides basic veterinary care and food for the pets of low-income and homeless people in the West and South Sides of Columbus
and the five finalists:
Meagan Warren, of Bexley, who at 14 has started a program that has donated 53,000 books to children
Marshall Cheatham, of the Olde Towne East neighborhood, who founded the Columbus Saints Drum & Bugle Corps
Howard Warner, of Upper Arlington, a retired barber who works with cancer patients whose hair is falling out from chemotherapy
Tricia Keels, of Bexley, whose Souper Heroes program has donated 100,000 meals to the local hunger-relief system
Renna Schafler from Galloway, has volunteered at North Central Mental Health's Suicide Prevention Services for 26 years
September 19, 2017