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Last updated on Wednesday, February 19, 2014
(BLOOMINGTON) - Mayor Mark Kruzan announced three local women will be honored during March for their outstanding service to our community.
Karen Green Stone has been named Bloomington's Woman of the Year, Georgia Schaich has been named recipient of the Lifetime Contribution Award and Debra Morrow has been chosen to receive the Emerging Leader Award.
The recipients were selected by members of the Woman of the Year Subcommittee of the City of Bloomington's Commission on the Status of Women. The Woman of the Year and Lifetime Contribution Award recipients will be honored at the Women's History Month Lunch, which will be held on Wednesday, March 26, at 12:15 p.m. at the Bloomington-Monroe County Convention Center, 302 S. College Ave. The lunch serves as an opportunity to recognize individual and collective accomplishments of women in our community. In addition, organizations for women and women-owned businesses will exhibit at the luncheon. Doors open at 11:15 a.m. for viewing of women's exhibits. The exhibit reservation form is available at www.bloomington.in.gov/csw. Seats for the lunch must be purchased in advance at $20.00 each. More information regarding purchasing seats may be found below.
The theme of this year's event is "Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment." Deborah Hearn Smith will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon. Deborah is the Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Central Indiana.
The Emerging Leader recipient will be honored at the Women's Leadership Development event, which will be held on Thursday, March 13, at 5 p.m in City Hall Council Chambers, 401 N. Morton St. This event is free and open to the public.
Woman of the Year Karen Green Stone is a fearless advocate for health care. She is co-founder and active member of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan, which has been instrumental in educating the public and making health insurance and health care available to all families, children and individuals in Indiana. Karen is also an artist and helped to organize the Local Clay Potter's Guild in 1997. She has been president of the guild for 17 years and is a key board member and organizer of the Soup Bowl Benefit, now in its 20th year and currently the main fundraiser for the Hoosier Hills Food Bank.
Lifetime Contribution Award winner Georgia Schaich has dedicated her life to serving others and championing causes that make Bloomington a more senior-friendly community. Her career in working with seniors began at Hospitality House (Garden Villa) where she was employed as the Activities Director from 1984 to 1989. From 1989 to 2005, she was the director of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program for the Area 10 Agency on Aging. In 1993, Georgia helped create the first TRIAD council in Indiana to help raise seniors' awareness of crime and ways of protecting themselves. She joined the Commission on Aging in 2010 and has served on committees to organize the annual Creative Aging Festival and design Emergency Disaster Support for Elders.
The 2014 Emerging Leader, Debra Morrow, has worked tirelessly to help others overcome their barriers to social mobility. Debra is the Community Services Coordinator at Middle Way House and places up to 300 volunteers annually. She is also a volunteer at New Leaf and works with women transitioning from jail to the community by providing them with information about housing, social services and employment. She has been instrumental in developing programs for the jail, including Christmas Caroling, yoga classes and job readiness and has been a strong advocate on behalf of all incarcerated women. Debra has also volunteered at the Shalom Center and has been involved with local efforts to end homelessness. She is a volunteer with NET (Monroe County Chapter of Prevent Child Abuse Indiana) and is the Broadview Neighborhood Association President.
To purchase a seat, please make checks payable to "City of Bloomington - Women's History Month Lunch" and include the name(s) to appear on guest list. Checks may be sent to Women's History Month Lunch, Commission on the Status of Women, P.O. Box 100, Bloomington, IN 47402. Seats can also be purchased at the Community & Family Resources Department, Suite 260 at City Hall, 401 N. Morton St. The deadline for buying a seat is Friday, March 21. Scholarships are available for individuals that need assistance purchasing a seat to attend the lunch.
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