Downtown YWCA to honor 7 area women with awards

State Rep. Teresa Fedor was honored in the government category in the 2013 Milestone Awards presented by the YWCA of Northwest Ohio.

Seven sensational women were singled out Thursday by the YWCA of Northwest Ohio.

The organization introduced its 2013 Milestone Award winners at the downtown YWCA, although two of them — Janet Robinson, Lourdes University’s interim president, and Dr. Anne Ruch, a Maumee physician — could not break from work duties to attend.

“This is actually our 18th year in doing this, and it is a time that allows the community to really see and hear all the great things that women are doing in the community,” Lisa McDuffie, YWCA president and chief executive officer, said before announcing the honorees.

By category, the honorees are:

● Arts: Carolyn Putney, chief curator, director of collections, and curator of Asian art at the Toledo Museum of Art.

● Business: Linda Ewing, senior vice president at Fifth Third Bank.

● Education: Janet Robinson, interim president of Lourdes University.

● Government: State Rep. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo).

● Sciences: Dr. Anne Ruch of Maumee, obstetrician and gynecologist, director of SewHope, and founder of Kids Against Hunger-Toledo.

● Social Services: Wanda Butts, founder of the Josh Project.

● Volunteerism: Patricia Appold, president of the Library Legacy Foundation and Oliver House Development.

The winners are nominated by the public and then chosen by a YWCA selection committee.

“We have seven different categories but in each of the categories the criteria [are] really the same,” Ms. McDuffie said. “We’re looking for people who are going beyond their paycheck, and obviously in the category of volunteerism they’re doing community work, services to individuals without a paycheck at all.”

Ms. McDuffie said there is never a shortage of nominations — and she doubts there ever will be.

“I envision this going on for a million years,” she said, adding that while the women being honored “are in the prime of their careers, one of the reasons they’re being honored is because they’re also mentoring younger women and doing very special things to bring forth the next generation of our community’s leaders.”

All seven women are to be formally recognized at an awards luncheon at 11:30 a.m. March 14 at the SeaGate Convention Centre. Tickets are $50 per person, and all proceeds benefit the social service programs of the YWCA.