United Way: Everyday Heroes in Monroe County
What is a hero? According to the Oxford Dictionary, a hero is “a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities.” For the past 21 years, Everyday Heroes have been celebrated right here in Monroe County, as a fundraiser hosted by and for the United Way of Monroe/Lenawee Counties. There are some remarkable people honored who have performed some extraordinary actions — selfless people who make the world a better place. Many individuals and groups have been honored at a celebration banquet in March since 2003. This year we honored 13 local hometown heroes this past Wednesday, March 29, at LaRoy’s Hall in LaSalle. Once again, it was a guaranteed heartwarming evening! Here are this year’s honorees:
Law Enforcement – Dundee Officer Mike Norman; Animal Rescue Hero – Kim Canales; Animal Rescue (Canine) Hero – Stretch; Military Hero – U.S. Coast Guard/Toledo Station; Community Hero – Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep; Community Hero (posthumously) – Judge Mike Weipert; Youth Good Samaritan – Addison St. Andre; Labor/Union Hero – Daryll Yarger; Adult Good Samaritan – Shane Neckel; Medical Professional Hero – Dr. Jeffery Chapman; Workplace Good Samaritan – Christy Avalos; Fire Hero – Dave Nadeau and Nic Ingersoll. For more detailed information on these heroes, please see the complete Monroe News article.
Each year, hero nominations are solicited from the community to honor actions from the previous year. The hero must either be a Monroe County resident, employed in Monroe County or the heroic action taken place in Monroe County. A group of community leaders, called the nomination committee, reviews all the nominations and selects the winners in the above-mentioned categories. Troy Goodnough, Monroe County sheriff, is the chair of the nomination committee. This year we posthumously honored long-time nomination committee member and recent committee chair Judge Michael Weipert. We presented a special Community Hero Award in memory of the late judge who was with us since the very beginning of this Everyday Heroes journey. He is greatly missed by this community for the many roles he served in making this community a better place.
Twenty-one years ago, my former Red Cross staff, board members and I started a journey to honor Everyday Heroes in Monroe County. We hit upon a dinner celebration and fundraising model that would highlight exemplary actions of everyday people who do extraordinary deeds. To date, over 200 individuals and groups have been honored. The celebration is still going strong in Monroe County, although since 2015, the event has been under the United Way umbrella. We typically host around 200 people each year, and each year the stories are compelling. I wouldn’t have believed 21 years later that the Everyday Heroes event would still be this popular. It really becomes a community celebration of everything that is good in the community, in this world. And God knows we need some good news to celebrate!
In 2016, as the executive director of Catherine Cobb Safe House (formerly Family Counseling and Children’s Services of Lenawee County), I also introduced Everyday Heroes to Lenawee County. And it has been well received there, too, where community demographics are similar to Monroe County. They will be holding their annual Everyday Heroes Celebration in November 2023.
Annually the United Way funds 27 local Monroe County agency programs. We also sponsor countywide 211 services, and coordinate Project Ramp, four annual Health Check events, and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). All funds raised in Monroe County stay in Monroe County. For more information about giving and living united, please contact us. Call us at 734-242-1331, contact us for an appointment at our office: 216 N. Monroe St., Monroe, MI 48162. Or you can visit our website at www.unitedwayMLC.org or contact me at lpipis@unitedwayMLC.org.
Laura Schultz Pipis is the executive director of the United Way of Monroe/Lenawee Counties.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: United Way: Everyday Heroes in Monroe County
