Spirit of the Silver Lining® Award

Recipients of the 2020 Spirit of the Silver Lining Award include:

L. DeGeus & Associates: Trinity Services, Inc.

Trinity Services, Inc. was founded in 1950. They serve more than 3,500 adults and children who have disabilities or mental health needs in more than 30 Illinois communities. Services provided include residential living options, employment programs, community day services, and behavioral health programs. Guiding their interactions with participants is the belief that everything counts; every personal interaction is an opportunity to promote self-confidence, heighten self-esteem, and lead to the achievement of personal goals.

Bill Brandt of Service Insurance Agency: Animal Assisted Therapy

The Animal Assisted Therapy Program at Northwest Community Hospital arranges for teams of dogs and their owners to visit patients.  Since the program began in 2007, the teams have made more than 68,000 patient visits. They often hear that the visits help reduce stress, pain, anxiety, and loneliness, which can help the healing process.

Kevin Mandrell of WalkerHughes Group, LLC: Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation

The Bosma Visionary Opportunities Foundation was formed in 2009  to raise money to support the mission of Bosma Enterprises. For more than 100 years, Bosma has been helping people in Indiana who are blind or visually impaired gain the life skills they need to remain independent and the job skills they need to stay self-sufficient. For each participant, they build and execute a customized rehabilitation and training plan based on individual goals.

The Accel Group: Waverly Area Veterans Post

The Waverly Area Veterans Post brings together four veterans’ organizations in Waverly, Iowa with each post charter remaining intact. The facility has become the place “Where Patriots Gather” and it helps address the needs of all active and inactive veterans and their families.

Bridget Kubera of Chas H. Bilz Insurance Agency: Emergency Shelter of Northern KY

The mission statement of the Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky (ESNKY) is to provide shelter which is life-saving in the winter and life-changing in the summer. They believe that homelessness is an emergency and that shelter is a basic necessity for human beings and that only when this basic necessity is provided, do human beings have the ability to recover from homelessness. ESNKY has been serving the homeless population in Northern Kentucky since 2008, providing meals, laundry service, showers, clothing, and personal hygiene items, as well as information about and referrals to community resources.

Kemmer Iott Benz: Hope Community Center

Hope Community Center supports Lenawee County adults with disabilities in pursuing empowered, healthy, and community-enriched lives. Key to their vision is for people with disabilities to be known, loved, and accepted in their communities by unleashing their individual potential as contributing citizens. Hope serves about 100 people each week through the more than 120 programs that are offered monthly in education, recreation, socialization, and volunteer opportunities.

Nulty Insurance Agency: Inner-City Youth for Change

Inner-City Youth for Change (ICYFC) equips and empowers teens to learn, lead, and serve their schools, communities, and around the world. Through a focus on identity development, service, leadership, team building, and cross-cultural exchange, ICYFC creates a rare opportunity for teens to engage in an eight-month program in which they step out of the world as they know it and broaden their world view. Through the program, the teens delve into an in-depth study of poverty today, as well as its implications in education, life expectancy, human rights, water and food availability, and the ramifications of colonialism, corruption, and civil war on a culture.

Scott Rant of Bridgeview Insurance Agency: Love in Action of the Tri-Cities

Love in Action works with a network of church partners, volunteers, and partner organizations to help neighbors in need. They do this through many different programs, all of which are designed to offer a hand-up, not a hand-out. Love in Action provides 27 individual services, including health and dental care, sheltered housing, food distribution, and more.

Tom Rekstein of The Minnesota River Insurance Agency: Twin Valley Council

Serving youth in 15 counties in Southern Minnesota, the Twin Valley Council prepares young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. The objective is to give youth opportunities in leadership roles, problem solving, and communication skills needed to excel in life, as well as train them with a sense of community service and learning about the world around them.

Phil Barnes of The Crichton Group: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

The mission of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is to cure cystic fibrosis and to provide all people with cystic fibrosis the opportunity to lead long, fulfilling lives by funding research and drug development, partnering with the CF community, and advancing high-quality, specialized care. Their approach to curing cystic fibrosis and caring for those affected by the disease is three-fold: research, care, and support.

Marcia Leibfried of Tricor Insurance: Special Olympics Wisconsin

The mission of Special Olympics Wisconsin is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities to develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, and experience joy while participating in a sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship with their families, Special Olympics athletes, and the community. Their vision is that sport will open hearts and minds towards people with intellectual disabilities and create inclusive communities across Wisconsin.

Starr Insurance Group: American Heart Association

For nearly 100 years, the American Heart Association (AHA) has been fighting heart disease and stroke, striving to save and improve lives. The AHA has grown into the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. A shared focus on cardiovascular health unites their more than 33 million volunteers and supporters, as well as more than 3,400 employees. Their mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.

Joanne Szymaszek of Johnson Insurance Services: Junior Achievement of Wisconsin

Junior Achievement (JA) of Wisconsin's volunteer-delivered, kindergarten-12th grade programs foster work-readiness, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy skills. The programs use experiential learning to inspire students to dream big and reach their potential. During the 2017-2018 school year, JA of Wisconsin’s programs reached 153,765 students in 1,019 schools.

Vickie Talcott of Morrow Insurance Agency: Marshall County Humane Society

As recently as the 1980s, stray, lost, abused, homeless, and unwanted animals in Marshall County had no place to go and were left abandoned on the streets. The outcome for most of these animals was euthanasia. Concerned citizens took it upon themselves to establish the Marshall County Humane Society to provide these animals with a place where they would be safe and well cared for as they waited for their forever homes.

Mary Setter of Marsh & McLennan: Pinky Swear Foundation

The Pinky Swear Foundation was established  by Steve and Becky Chepokas in memory of their son, Mitch, after he lost his fight against bone cancer at the age of nine. Before his death, Mitch made his dad pinky swear to keep helping kids with cancer. The foundation eases the financial and emotional impacts experienced by children with cancer and their families by providing basic needs support during a very challenging time. Financial services include rent and mortgage payments, car payments and gas cards, healthy food for the entire family, and utility payments. They also provide memorable experiences through families’ getaways, worry-free time together out of the hospital, and the ability for parents to stay with their children.

Marsh & McLennan: Youth Frontiers

Formed to help combat bullying, Youth Frontiers’ mission is to provide schools with experiences that inspire character, civility, and community. They deliver and facilitate one-day retreats focused on timeless values like kindness, courage, and respect. Visiting approximately 775 schools each year, these retreats reach kids at critical ages (fourth through twelfth grade), providing experiences that enhance self-awareness, empathy, and connectedness. Youth Frontiers also offers educator retreats to help schools support their educators and create cohesive teams all focused in a common direction: their students.