News Release
Contact: Michael G. Gaffney, APR
Vice President, Marketing
Office: 330-643-5532
Cell: 330-701-8080
Date: May 10, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LOCAL AFL/CIO, UNITED
WAY HONOR COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS AT DINNER
(AKRON, OHIO) – Akron/Medina County
Labor Council, AFL-CIO and United Way of Summit County will serve as
co-hosts for the annual Community Service Awards Dinner on
Wednesday, June 6th, beginning at 6:00 pm at the Hilton
Akron/Fairlawn, 3180 W. Market Street. United Way of Summit County
and Organized Labor have a long history of working together to make
our community a better place to live, work and raise a family.
Tickets are just $40, or you can purchase a table of 8 for $320, and
are available by calling Linda Lancaster at (330) 253-2111 or Beth
Curley at (330) 643-5506.
This year’s honorees
are Rose Juriga, who
will receive the Peter Bommarito Award, and
Don Bingman,
who will be presented the Leo E. Dugan Award.
Rose Juriga is the executive
director of the Tri-County Independent Living Center, Inc. Since
joining the organization in 1990, she had grown the organization
from its grassroots beginnings to the progressive, vital advocacy
and service agency it is today.
From the offices in Akron, Rose
provides leadership, vision and guidance in directing the
organization in its mission to serve people with disabilities in
Summit, Stark and Portage County. During her 17 years at the helm,
she has increased the organization’s funding base from $75,000 to
more than $400,000.
In fact, Rose had dedicated her life
to serving those in need. She has served as Director of the
Training and Employment Institute in Washington D.C., and held a
variety of positions with the Akron Urban League, Goodwill
Industries of Akron and the Vocational Development Center. She is a
past member of the Mayor’s Commission on Children, the Tuff Stuff
Committee, the Bishop’s Task Force on Church in the City, and
Christmas in April, and has served as chair of the Catholic
Commission, and president of the Community Welfare Forum. Rose has
been listed three times in
Marquis’ Who’s Who in America. She lives in Tallmadge,
Ohio.
The 2007 Leo E. Dugan Award will be
presented to Don Bingman. Don is a 39-year member of the National
Association of Letter Carriers, Branch 148. Although he retired in
2003, he is still active in the Union.
He has served terms as Steward at
North Hill Station for 10 years, Trustee for 2 three-year terms, and
currently is the Treasurer of Branch 148, a position he has held
from 1991 to the present. Don is active in the NALC Food Drive,
which has collected over one million pounds of food, locally, since
its existence in 1993.
He is a graduate of the Tri-County
Regional Labor Council, AFL-CIO Union Counselor class, jointly
sponsored by the United Way. Like his mentor and friend, Julian
O’Neill the 1996 Leo Dugan Award winner, Don was coordinator of the
Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon from 1990 to 2001, Jerry’s
Kids Labor Day annual event. Don is responsible for the Letter
Carriers appearing in the Barberton Labor Day Parade for the last
five years.
Don and his wife Cathy are the proud
parents of three children, Ann, Donald & Rebecca, and the proud
grandparents of Nicole.
United Way of Summit
County improves lives by mobilizing community assets for health and
human services. For more information on any program or to volunteer,
call the office at (330) 762-7601, visit our Web site at
www.uwsummit.org, or write to us at United Way of Summit County, 90
N. Prospect St., P.O. Box 1260, Akron, Ohio 44309-1260.
