September 15, 1999
United Way honors volunteers
Ed Arbut, Kara Hay, Tony and Carol Hiner recognized by agency
Ed Arbut, Kara Hay and Tony and Carol Hiner were recognized Tuesday as recipients of the annual United Way of Northwest Michigan volunteerism awards. Recipients accepted their awards at a breakfast that kicked-off the annual United Way campaign and Day of Caring held at the Park Place Hotel dome in Traverse City.
The Distinguished Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Ed Arbut, community president and regional commercial loan manager of National City Bank for his significant volunteer commitments in the community. Arbut has held several leadership positions with United Way of Northwest Michigan including president of the board of directors and campaign chair. He presently serves as co-chair of the local Circle of Friends leadership giving society and secretary/treasurer of the United Way of Michigan board of directors. Arbut is also on the boards of the Traverse Bay EDC and HomeStretch CDC, a corporate member of Munson Healthcare and active in the Traverse City Rotary Club and Northwestern Michigan College Founders 21 Committee.
Kara Hay, a senior at Traverse City West Senior High School, received the Outstanding Student Volunteer of the Year Award. Hay has made a positive mark on her school and community as the coordinator of several successful Student Senate service projects including blood drives, Adopt-a-Grandparent project, Boys and Girls Club visitations and Make-A-Difference-Day. Hay volunteers outside of school, as well. She has served dinner for area food banks during holidays, shuttled the elderly to appointments and painted senior citizens' homes during the Volunteer Center's Paint the Town.
The Bob Felzke Community Service Award was given to Tony and Carol Hiner. The award recognizes those who serve the community through United Way and union activism. Tony works as Sara Lee Bakery and is a member of BC&T Local 81. He is an executive board trustee on the Central Labor Council and an annual volunteer for Day of Caring, Paint the Town and the March of Dimes walk. The couple shares a commitment to fighting hunger as volunteers with the United Labor Food Band and Northwest Michigan Food Coalition. The Hiners have assisted with various community food drives with UPS, mail carriers and the Cherry Festival CanDo. As American Red Cross volunteers, they even helped feed firefighters during the 22 days it took to squelch the Grawn tire fire.
The volunteerism awards were presented in front of nearly 400 volunteers taking part in United Way Day of Caring projects Tuesday. Forty business and volunteers rolled up their sleeves to volunteer for 27 local nonprofit organizations during the fourth annual Day of Caring. Service projects ranged from packing gift baskets to celebrating the birth of babies born to families in the Doula Teen Parent Program to painting and furnishing Madeleine's House, a new transitional home for women. Eleven teams adopted rooms in the Traverse City home named in memory of Madeleine Thomas, a local attorney and advocate for women.