BERLIN – The 40 honorees in the premiere Charitable Souls campaign, organized under The Dispatch Shore Stars initiative, were announced this week.
In a five-week period, more than 100 nominations were received and the Charitable Souls committee selected the honorees last weekend.
“These folks are each inspirational in different ways. Their stories of charitable giving and genuine volunteer spirit epitomize true generosity,” said The Dispatch Publisher Steve Green. “We have merely scratched the surface here, as there are plenty of other people who give of themselves to make this community a better place to work and call home, but we are extremely proud to announce our first batch of worthy honorees.”
This year’s honorees are Dr. William Allen, Ed Battisfore, Bruce Bright, Stephanie Colletti, Bob Cook, Ed Dorang, Dale Dunning, Reba Felty, Todd Ferrante, Fred Fields, Anna Foultz, Roy Frick, Rosie Garlitz, Irene Hansen, Dawn Hodge, Phil Houck, Harry How, Madalaine How, Carolyn Jenkins, Joan Jenkins, Jacqueline Jennings, Nancy Jones, Ryan Kirby, Patricia Ilczuk-Lavanceau, Odette Lineweaver, Bonnie Luna, Elsie MacMullin, Ken MacMullin, John Maphis, Mitchel Marriner, Patti Miller, Ed Montgomery, Bill O’Donnell, Dan Peletier, Stacy Schaffer, Al Sgro, Michael Staicer, Jeff Thaler, Rina Thaler and Priscilla Zytkowicz.
The honorees include 20 men and 20 women, with 10 from the Salisbury area, one from Delaware, 10 from the Berlin-Ocean Pines area and 19 from Ocean City.
The honorees will be featured in a special magazine on Feb. 25 that will be inserted into The Dispatch and circulated at the awards celebration on March 2 at Fager’s Island. The awards event will be an upscale cocktail party recognizing the honorees. Tickets are now available for the event and can be purchased at www.thedispatchshorestars.com or by calling 410-641-4561.
These individuals volunteer through a variety of nonprofit organizations including Diakonia, Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services, Junior Achievement, Atlantic General Hospital, Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Joseph House, Village of Hope, Community Foundation, United Way, Worcester GOLD, Red Cross, Coastal Hospice, Worcester County Habitat and others.
The campaign is sponsored by D3 Corp, Atlantic General Hospital, Taylor Bank, Insurance Management Group, Inc., Christine and Brian Selzer of Merrill Lynch, Bergey and Co., Bartash Printing and The Dispatch.