10 ‘stars’ set to be honored for their community service
WARREN — The brightest examples of community service and the people who do those good deeds will be honored March 21 at the 16th annual Community Star awards dinner.
Co-sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle and Trumbull 100, the Community Star program celebrates local volunteers who go above and beyond to make a measurable impact in the lives of others without expecting anything in return. Forty-seven nominations were received.
“There were quite a few great nominations this year, and it was difficult to narrow to 10. This year’s winners have a huge impact in so many areas of our community. They are so inspirational,” said Sue Shafer, community events coordinator for the Tribune Chronicle.
The 2017 Class of Community Stars are:
l D’Andre Bowers of Warren is the chief officer of Warren Neighborhood Initiative, which was created in 2016 with the goal of helping develop and revitalize neighborhoods in Warren;
l William E. Casey of Hubbard helped create the Adopt-A-Home program in Warren and donated $25,000 to help get the project that revitalizes the central city neighborhood in Warren off the ground;
l Amanda Colbert of Warren is a board member of Team Sanders Inc., a nonprofit group that provides after-school programs and focuses on community involvement, and she started Colbert’s Care, a group of people dedicated to community service;
l Shirley Frazier of Southington is director of the food pantry at Grace United Methodist Church on Drexel Avenue NW in Warren, a job she has given her time toward for 10 years. Frazier, a retired nurse, also volunteers at St. Joe’s at the Mall, a full-service health and wellness center of St. Joseph Warren Hospital;
l William H. Gore of Cortland is a U.S. Army veteran who as a member of the American Legion Post 540 in Cortland served as post chairman for the American Legion Buckeye Boys State. Gore also serves as chaplain for the Vietnam veterans chapter in Warren and is an active member of the Trumbull County Honor Guard;
l Elliott Heckman of Warren repairs bicycles and gives them to the Salvation Army to distribute to kids at Christmas;
l Lou Lepro of Warren is vice president of the Trumbull Deanery of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. In that capacity, Lepro, in part, manages the kitchen and dining hall and oversees and helps the volunteers. In addition, he helped form the Historical Perkins Homestead Neighborhood Association;
l James McFarland of Warren served and serves on several local boards, including the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library board, which he has been a member of for 20 years. McFarland also is on the Base Community Council at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station;
l Dr. Farid Naffah of Cortland created the Avamar Foundation, which helps the elderly needy population pay for medication. Each year since 2010, he has hosted a fundraiser to raise money for the foundation;
l James Shuttic of Warren is president of the board of directors of the Fine Arts Council of Trumbull County, a role that lets him develop events to give artists a chance to show their work. An artist, Shuttic has created and helped install a variety of public art projects in the Garden District of Warren.
“On behalf of Trumbull 100, we would like to congratulate all of the recipients of the Community Star award this year,” said Jordan Taylor, president of Trumbull 100. “Trumbull 100, in co-sponsorship with the Tribune Chronicle, are proud to be able to highlight the best in community service Trumbull County has to offer.”
Full profiles of each person will be featured in a special section that will be published March 22 in the Tribune Chronicle.
Tickets for the banquet at St. Demetrios Community Center in Warren are available at the Tribune Chronicle, 240 Franklin St. SE, by phone or by an order form that will run frequently in the pages of the newspaper. For more information, contact Shafer at sshafer@tribtoday.com or at 330-841-1696.
The event is open to the community.