Philanthropy thrives in Toledo

From left, Junior chairman Ben Treece, hosts Cynthia and Dock Treece, Ann Kujawa, Hickman Cancer Center, Karen Martin, Cardio ReHap Department, and Dr. Evanoff.

From left, Junior chairman Ben Treece, hosts Cynthia and Dock Treece, Ann Kujawa, Hickman Cancer Center, Karen Martin, Cardio ReHap Department, and Dr. Evanoff.

Former Toledoan Aaron Baker, executive director of Aspire, was the presenter at the United Way Tocqueville Tuesday luncheon series sponsored by Brooks Insurance Agency on June 11 at the Toledo Club. Aspire works with community organizations to ensure that all children reach adulthood prepared to be responsible and engaged citizens.

Born and raised in Toledo, Mr. Baker is a graduate of Maumee Valley Country Day School and the University of Toledo, where he was assistant vice president for government relations. He is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University, where he focuses on educational leadership and policy. Mr. Baker still gives back to his hometown by serving as a board member for Toledo Botanical Garden and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Toledo.

Mr. Baker discussed three main goals of Aspire: to create a strategic community-wide collaboration to help children, to change the culture of the community, and to align leadership and funding capacity with what works for children.

The next luncheon will be Sept. 10 with 2013 National Tocqueville Award winner Barbara Siemer, who will discuss housing stability issues facing Toledo families.

The Northern Ohio Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society inaugural "Man & Woman of the Year" campaign in Toledo ended with the Grand Finale on June 21 at Hilton Garden Inn, Levis Commons.

Emcee Lee Conklin of WTVG-TV, Channel 13, welcomed everyone and introduced honored guests, the 2013 Boy and Girl of the Year, Elijah Elder and Nataleigh Hartman, both local leukemia survivors.

Left to Right, Danielle Tracy, Erin Parseghian, LLS Campaign Manager, and Lauren Tracy.

Five local candidates competed to raise funds for blood cancer research and be named man or woman of the year: Thomas Geissler, Corey King, Susan Pugh, Thomas Parseghian, and Mandy Sinclair Nitschke.

Crowned as Man and Woman of the Year at the end of the night were Mr. Parseghian and Ms. Sinclair Nitschke, with Mr. Parseghian raising more than $50,000, earning him naming rights to a national research portfolio next year.

An estimated $85,000 was raised for the mission.

Among the more than 200 attendees were Phil and Pixie Noble, John Smythe, Sarah Davis, Jeff and Cheryl Crandell, and Lisa Conklin, and her son Jake, Jim and Alison Herrick, Jake and Erica McVicker, Erik and Danielle Tracy, and Owen and Lauren Tracy.

Flower Hospital Auxiliary presented $10,000 checks to Hickman Cancer Center and Cardio Rehab, both on the campus of the ProMedica Flower Hospital, from their recent Shaken or Stirred fund-raiser. This was in addition to the $100,000 given to the hospital foundation this past year.

The celebration party on June 17 was given by junior chairman Ben Treece and hosted by his parents Dock and Cynthia Treece in their home.

Event chairmen Diane Dooley, Beth Carr, Barbara Baumgartner and Ben Treece were assisted by committee members Patricia Hilfinger, Cookie Westmeyer, Diane Shull, Polly Tate, Susan Mason, Bill Puckett, Ann Galloway, and Kate Adams-Nameche.