Dedicated Granville volunteer Ryan Mills honored with Rotary Club award

Barely more than age 40, Ryan Mills has accumulated a resume of community service many people don’t attain until retirement, if at all.

Small wonder, then, that Mills was presented the Granville Rotary Club’s prestigious Vocational Service Award on June 5, the 28th member of the Granville community to do so since the inception of the honor in 1993.

The award is one of two highly-regarded honors the club bestows on standout Granvilleans, this one rewarding volunteerism related to one’s occupation. The other honor is the Service Above Self Award, to be presented in December.

"If a criterion for the Vocational Service Award is an 'individual’s performance and contributions to their community through their occupation,' it’s hard to contemplate a more worthy recipient" summarized Rotarian Steve Thaxton, one of the speakers touting Mills’ generosity.

Mills is currently president of the Granville Investment Group. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Denison University and an M.B.A. from Ohio Dominican University. He began his career as assistant vice president and regional manager of Park National Bank in Granville.

Over the past 10 years, Mills has served as a volunteer in an impressive array of organizations, said Rotarian Sue Cherney, who nominated him for the award, including:

• The Licking County Foundation, where he served as board member.

• Hospice of Central Ohio as chairman of the board.

• The Rotary Club of Granville, serving as president and currently as membership chair.

• United Way and Habitat for Humanity.

Mills has been active in his church as well, Cherney said. At Spring Hills Baptist Church he has served on the Stewardship and Personnel Committee and is a leader of the Men’s Bible Study group.

He has also been a coach for the Granville Recreation District in soccer and basketball.

"Ryan uses his business to give back to the community as well," Cherney said, Providing an on-going internship program at the Granville Investment Group through which Denison students can gain guidance, mentorship, and experience in the financial industry.

"In addition, Ryan provides service opportunities for his clients to gather together, forming a work team to give back to the community. Some past opportunities have directly benefitted at-risk teens, foster children, families in need, and our local animal shelter," she said.

Cherney related an observation from Heather Gable, Client Services Coordinator of the Granville Investment Group about Mills, which stated: "It is my honor to support the nomination of Ryan for this award. Working closely with him, I witness his dedicated support of a wide array of nonprofit organizations. Whether it be through financial support or rolling up his sleeves to clean apartments, shovel gravel, sort toys or make blankets for children in foster care, you will find Ryan willing to lend a hand."

Gable’s remarks continued: "His lifetime love of sports leads him to sponsor teams for the Granville Recreation District and to give his time to coach local youth, some of whom would not otherwise have a caring, supportive male influence. He is a faithful supporter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes."

Thaxton, a club past-president, heaped praise on Mills’ Rotary leadership from the moment they met, when Mills was on the club’s new-member committee that included breakfast meetings interviewing prospective members.

"Ryan's unwavering dedication extended beyond that initial encounter. He diligently stayed in touch, guiding me through my Rotary experience and actively helping me find and materialize meaningful ways to expand," Thaxton said. "His caring nature not only fostered my commitment to Rotary projects but also forged a lasting friendship."

Ten years later, Thaxton said, "He’s meeting with new members, encouraging them and helping them get involved. In that time between that first breakfast morning and today, over half of our current members joined our club. It makes me wonder if this beloved organization of ours would have made it to the age of 74 without Ryan’s efforts."

Thaxton continued that Mills took on the club presidency during trying times — in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic when the club resorted to online Zoom meetings instead of face-to-face.

"Taking on the presidency under the circumstances that Ryan did — having to lead us out of isolation, the club financially strained as most of our revenue streams were all shut off, and member engagement at all time low — well, taking it on under circumstances like that, that’s just downright masochism!"

"He led us out of isolation and back to a live club, negotiating a few starts and stops and conflicting opinions on live meetings," Thaxton said, at the same time negotiating three locations and multiple meeting times along the way and returning the club to a positive cash flow and financial health. "He turned around our diminishing club roster into a growing roster. He guided us back to the return of all our key fundraisers."

It wasn’t just the status quo Mills retained, but even more Rotary involvement in the community, Thaxton said.

"Along with his wife, Tammy, he increased our involvement with Families Helping Families and connected our club with many new service opportunities like the Boys and Girls Club, park clean-ups and the evening social projects. He personally spearheaded our partnership with citizenAID to outfit first responders in the Ukraine with critical lifesaving supplies."

And, as Mills’ presidency closed, Thaxton added, "He remarkably pulled together the single biggest one-day fundraiser and single year project by partnering with Denison, Jonathan Mensah and the Royal Seeds Orphanage to provide a bus to those children in Ghana. And these accomplishments just scratch the surface of Ryan’s efforts."

Back in his finance office on South Pearl Street, Thaxton said Mills creates both a sense of community and service to the community. "He makes so many of our most important community events and organizations possible through his incredibly generous sponsorships including the rec district, Fourth of July fireworks concert, two Chambers of Commerce, the Midland Theatre, Hospice of Central Ohio, FCA, Pelatonia, Echoing Village, and every single one of Granville Rotary’s events."

Mills gave credit to his fellow Rotarians as well as Tammy, whom he called his "rock" along with Jesus Christ.

"As I look across this room, only in the last two to three years have I really begun to throw myself into this organization and it’s been really rich," he said. "I went from being a member to being a true Rotarian."

"One of the quotes in the Bible is, 'To whom much is given, much is expected.' And I believe that with every ounce of my heart. We all have something we can contribute. It can be money, it can be time, it could be talent, it could be ideas. It could be a helping hand. Just think about that. What is it that you are called to give today? I’m just so proud to be a part of this organization with all of you."

Information submitted by Granville Rotary Club.

This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Dedicated Granville volunteer Ryan Mills honored with Rotary award