Nomination deadline extended: July 30
Access the nomination form here!

2010 Steel Magnolia Nominations Being Accepted Through July 30

Nominations are now open for women to be considered for the second annual Steel Magnolia Award, the Middletown Community Foundation has announced.

Women who have overcome obstacles to positively impact an AK Steel U.S. community have the opportunity to earn recognition as Steel Magnolia Award recipients in the program funded by the AK Steel Foundation.  Up to 10 awards are given annually, limited to no more than one recipient per AK Steel U.S. location per year.  Each recipient designates a $1,000 donation to an eligible charity of her choice.

The award honors women of all ages who have faced personal adversity and have shown exceptional strength, courage, compassion and leadership through their work in support of their communities.

“Strength in times of hardship and adversity are the hallmarks of a strong company and a strong community.  In honor and respect for women who have succeeded in spite of adversity, The AK Steel Foundation is proud to support the Steel Magnolia Award.” said James L. Wainscott, chairman, president and CEO of AK Steel.

Middletown Community Foundation Executive Director T. Duane Gordon added: “The quality of nominations received last year for our inaugural awards was so outstanding that I wish we could have honored all of the amazing women considered for the award. I am certain that this year’s nominations will be equally moving and inspirational.”

Nominations, which should take the form of an essay of 500 words or less, must be received by the program administrator, the Middletown Community Foundation, no later than 5 p.m. Friday, July 30. Nominees must live in the vicinity of an AK Steel facility. Association with AK Steel is not a requirement for nomination and will have no bearing on the nominee’s consideration.  

Eligible communities are the greater Ashland, Ky.; Butler, Pa.; Columbus and Rockport, Ind.; and Coshocton, Mansfield, Middletown, Walbridge, West Chester and Zanesville, Ohio, areas.

Complete requirements and nomination form are available here. For more information, contact the Middletown Community Foundation at 513-424-7369.

2009 Steel Magnolia Honorees

Watch the ceremony honoring our first Middletown and West Chester recipients in the player above. Video courtesy TV Middletown.

Eight outstanding women have been selected as the inaugural Steel Magnolia Award honorees, the Middletown Community Foundation has announced.

Women who have overcome obstacles to positively impact their communities have the opportunity each year to earn recognition as Steel Magnolia Award recipients in a program funded by the AK Steel Foundation. Nominations by essay were solicited in the spring from the public in each of the 10 communities where AK Steel operates a facility. Volunteer judges from the various communities reviewed the essays of those who agreed to be considered for the award, and one honoree in each community was selected based on the judges’ combined scores.

The Steel Magnolia Award honors women of all ages who face personal adversity and have shown exceptional strength, courage, compassion and leadership through their work in support of their communities.

“Strength in times of hardship and adversity are the hallmarks of a strong company and a strong community.  In honor and respect for women who have succeeded in spite of adversity, The AK Steel Foundation is proud to support the Steel Magnolia Award.” said James L. Wainscott, chairman, president and CEO of AK Steel.

“The Middletown Community Foundation received such moving and inspiring essays detailing the struggles and successes of so many amazing women in these communities that I sincerely wish we could have honored them all,” explained Middletown Community Foundation Executive Director T. Duane Gordon. “I hope that those who nominated the outstanding women who were not selected for this year’s award will submit their stories for consideration again next year.”

Elle Berry (Ashland, Ky.)

Eleanor “Elle” Berry has been selected as the Ashland, Ky., area’s honoree. She worked for many years with 4-H youth, traveling across the country, but moved to Ashland after marrying her husband, Tony, who worked for Ashland Oil. As she battled her own cancer in recent years, she also served as her husband’s caregiver due to his medical problems. Even so, she remained a tireless volunteer for the Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital Auxiliary, serving three terms as its president, working the hospital front desk, delivering papers to rooms and organizing fund-raisers.

“Elle is a special lady – full of energy and joy,” wrote her nominator, Larry Jones. “She is an absolute delight to be around and to work with.”

Each recipient is able to designate an eligible charity of her choice to receive a $1,000 donation in honor of her selection. Berry chose the Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital Foundation.

Etta Caver (West Chester)

Etta J. Caver of Fairfield was chosen to represent the women of the communities surrounding the company’s West Chester corporate headquarters. An AK Steel employee for more than 20 years, she channeled her experience as a domestic violence survivor into helping others in similar situations. Upon leaving her position at AK in 2001, she chose to pursue higher education, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work. She now works as a victim’s advocate for the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and regularly shares her story as a speaker in the dating violence prevention programs operated by Citizens Against Domestic Violence (CADV).

“Etta is inspiring on so many levels,” wrote her nominator, Shelly Wallpe. “She is rich in faith, compassion, knowledge and life experience. She gained her voice and now speaks for others until they are strong enough to advocate for themselves.”

Caver chose Citizens Against Domestic Violence for her $1,000 award.

Martha Fitts Clark (Rockport, Ind.) 

Martha Fitts Clark of Owensboro, Ky., has been selected as the Rockport, Ind., area’s honoree. She worked as a teacher raising her daughter alone and chose a second career in accounting, eventually owning and managing a firm of her own. She overcame lung cancer and devoted her retirement to helping others in the community, creating Impact 100 Owensboro – a women’s giving circle that has raised and granted more than $800,000 in just three years.

“Martha Fitts Clark is one of the pillars of the Owensboro community,” wrote her nominator, Sara Hemmingway. “Her good deeds are the equivalent of a strong foundation. She truly supports our community and we are stronger by her presence.”

Her $1,000 will benefit Impact 100 Owensboro.

Kimberly Rae Fairchild (Mansfield)

Kimberly Rae Fairchild has been selected as the Mansfield area’s recipient. She spent the first several months of her life in Children’s Hospital in Columbus due to numerous birth defects that impacted her speech, muscle use and hearing requiring many surgeries as she grew. Despite her disabilities, she learned to play cello in the orchestra, participated in 4-H and even traveled to Australia as a student ambassador. Presently, she is an honors student at Kent State University majoring in educational interpreting so she may work with deaf children in school.

“Although trials and hardships have always been a part of Kimberly’s life, she has never allowed them to direct her future,” Arnold Haring, her nominator, wrote. “She is a joyful young woman who seeks to find the positive in all that she does. Whatever she sets her mind to, Kimberly can accomplish.”

The youth choir of Upward Bound Youth in Wooster will benefit from her $1,000 award.

Jean Hooper (Zanesville) 

Jean Hooper has been selected as the Zanesville area’s honoree. Hooper’s life was forever changed as the result of a 1970 accident with a drunk driver that took the lives of her husband, Jim, and three sons, Terry, Steve and Keith. Although her own injuries resulted in disability, she managed to raise their three surviving children on her own. Wearing braces and using a walker, she oversees the daily volunteers in the John McIntire Library as part of the Muskingum County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogy Society and volunteers herself when no one else accepts a shift in the genealogy room.

“Despite her loss and her pain, Jean has always maintained a positive outlook, is never heard to complain, nor question her lot in life,” Rea Huff wrote in her nomination.  

The Muskingum County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogy Society will receive her $1,000 check.

Shelly L. Reigle (Coshocton) 

Shelly L. Reigle of West Lafayette has been selected as the Coshocton area’s recipient. She overcame cancer and the loss of two children only to have her third child diagnosed with a heart ailment. When her husband later became disabled, she had to enter the workforce and chose to attend school at the same time. In 2006, she was selected as the Outstanding Licensed Practical Nursing graduate at Central Ohio Technical College’s Coshocton campus and became a registered nurse this year.

“Shelly has remained strong through all her struggles and enjoys all the patients where she works,” Georgia J. Summit wrote in her nomination essay.

She chose her local American Cancer Society Relay for Life team for her charitable distribution.

Tammy Robert (Middletown)

Tammy L. Robert of Middletown was chosen to represent the women of the communities surrounding the Middletown Works facility.

Robert, a survivor of abuse, came to Middletown in 2005. Months later, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Cancer-free today, she is vice president of the Middletown Kiwanis Club and has been a driving force behind most of the organization’s recent projects including its children’s safety day, Memorial Day parade, fund-raisers and organizing reading volunteers as part of the Middletown chapter of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

“If something is going on that is designed to give a child a hug or a meal or hope, chances are you will find Tammy there,” wrote George Puckett in nominating her. “If someone needs a good listener, chances are, she will be there.”

Robert chose Hands and Feet, a home repair project administered by Berachah Baptist Church for Middletown families in need, to receive the check in her honor.

Renée Spohn (Butler, Pa.)

Renée Spohn has been selected as the Butler, Pa., area’s honoree. Mother of a Down syndrome daughter, she has devoted herself to Special Olympics Pennsylvania Butler County as a fund-raiser, management team member and coach. Her career, as a nurse, also helps many in the community.

“Renée has demonstrated to our community that we need acceptance for people with special needs through awareness, involvement and compassion,” wrote Christine Weber in her nomination essay.

She chose Special Olympics Pennsylvania Butler County to receive her contribution.

Nominees were required to live in the vicinity of an AK Steel facility.   Nominators and nominees did not have to be associated in any way with employees of AK Steel.   

Gordon said that nominations will be solicited by the Middletown Community Foundation next spring for the 2010 award.