Three Brown County program and business directors were among those honored by United Way of Greater Cincinnati this past week. United Way of Greater Cincinnati held their annual volunteer recognition breakfast on Thursday, April 15 at Eastgate to honor the recipients of the Resources Award, Exemplary Service Award, Vision Award and the Marty MacVeigh Leadership Award. Brown County volunteers received three of the four awards.

Debra Gordon, United Way campaign director, introduced each of the award winners and honorable mentions at the breakfast. She said the Exemplary Service Award went to Brown County Home Care, a program sponsored by Brown County Regional Healthcare, directed by Cheryl Phillips. Brown County Home Care allows many seniors to continue to live in their homes, and has been a steadily growing program since Phillips was named as director in 2007.

The Exemplary Service Award is given to an individual or organization that is able to complete their program specifications in an exemplary manner. Gordon said the program often has a waiting list, and continues to meet the nursing and home health needs of Brown County.

“Over the past two years the agency has been increased by 87 percent,” Gordon said.

Phillips accepted the award along with Adele Ducharme, from Brown County Regional Health Care. Phillips said she was honored to receive the award and thanked United Way for their cooperation in the program.

“Most of all I want to thank United Way for assisting us to work collaboratively to have an impact in the lives of the people of our community,” Phillips said.

Phillips, and Brown County Home Care, also received an honorable mention for the Resources Award which is given to individuals or organizations who significantly contribute to the success of the eastern area with time, money, advocacy, or in-kind contributions.

The winner of the Vision Award was Gina Bohl, director of curriculum and instruction at the Western Brown School District. According to Gordon, the Vision Award is given to an individual or organization who demonstrates vision and leadership resulting in the development, implementation, and improvement of a systemic change. Bohl has been instrumental in the district’s Success By 6 action committee, which helped to promote the concept of smooth transitions from early childhood to kindergarten.

Due to Bohl’s leadership, Western Brown was able to open a new Head Start classroom in one of the district’s elementary schools, two of the school’s child care programs are in the process of becoming quality rated, early childhood and kindergarten teachers are now actively participating in shared professional development, and the district is one of the state of Ohio’s Ready Schools.

“In Brown County, a couple of day cares were very reluctant to partner with us, but Gina’s persistence made it happen,” Gordon said. “Nobody can say no to Gina.”

Bohl accepted the award and said a large part of the award should go toward the Western Brown School staff and administration.

“It takes a team, it really does, it’s not just one person,” Bohl said. “I am lucky to work with a superintendent that is very visionary and a little bit of that is rubbing off on me. I’m working with a really good group of people who are willing to step out of their box, step out of their classroom and change the condition of our school.”

The recipient of the Marty MacVeigh Leadership award this year is Karren Robinson, retired program director of the Brown County Educational Service Center. According to Gordon, the award is the highest honor bestowed by the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. The winner of the award is selected out of all the nominations for the year, and is given to individuals who improve the lives of people in their communities.

Gordon said Robinson was instrumental in implementing the Brown County Recreation Program, which was designed to assist students with disabilities achieve academic success, as well as develop life skills through recreational activities and field trips. The trips help participants to see connections between their academic studies and their lives, while teaching about money, time, and safety precautions.

“Karren, this award is being presented to you for your 24 years of passion, advocacy, seamlessly inexhaustible energy and countless hours of dedication to meeting the needs of the special needs population in Brown County,” Gordon said. “You truly thought of your students before yourself, and as a result the participants of the program achieved the highest potential for academic success and are better prepared for life.”

Robinson accepted the award and said she could not have accomplished what she did without the support of the Educational Service Center and United Way.

“I can’t take credit for this, it was United Way and my office who supported the program,” Robinson said. “I thank you all for your support.”

The winner of the Resources Award was PPG Industries, located in Amelia. The award was received by Jessica Williamson, chemist, and Ryan Kingery, technical customer response at PPG. According to Gordon, PPG industries has had a very successful year under the direction of new CEO Tom Thompson, through the promotion of a Community Care Days project, which worked with Clermont Senior Services to provide interior and exterior painting, gutter, leaves, tree trimming, trash cleanup and car washing services for a senior homeowner in Milford.

For more information about the United Way of Greater Cincinnati, visit their website at www.uwgc.org.