Greensburg, PA (October 22, 2009) The United Way of Westmoreland County Women's Leadership Council (WLC) hosted its fourth annual breakfast for the "Women of Influence" on October 22 at Four Points by Sheraton with over 160 attendees. This event featured renowned playwright, Mary Miller and her play "NEXT!," a one-act view of how women face the trials of a doctor's office while waiting for a mammogram. Following the play, Dr. Carol Fox, Interim Chief Medical Officer of Excela Health, called on attendees to take charge of their health for their own future and that of their families. To close, the audience obtained a glimpse of United Way's Faith in Action program featuring local volunteers serving and supporting the independence of seniors in our area. This annual event celebrates the success of the Women's Leadership Council this past year and invites guests to join.
Phil Dymond, 2009 co-chair of WLC, opened the breakfast by announcing that the Women's Leadership Council has raised more than $500,000 in grants and gifts since its inception in 2006. Highlighting the support, Sylvia Fields of the Eden Hall Foundation, a Sustaining Partner of this event, reconfirmed the Foundation's commitment to fostering leadership for women in the region. Additional support for the breakfast came from Premier Partners, Excela Health and Westinghouse.
Playwright Mary Miller shared her story of how her play "NEXT!" came from a conversation with a family member and how one women said, "Thanks, you saved my life" as she was encouraged to get a mammogram after seeing the play. After her introduction, the audience enjoyed the talents of students from Seton Hill University as they recreated the stress, fear, humor and relief found in a doctor's office waiting room.
After the featured speakers and play, Donna Perone, president of Surge Point HR Talent of Murrysville, and WLC member, introduced a video presentation of Faith in Action programs. The three vignettes provided views of the program from the perspective of volunteers, a donor and a recipient. The actors were presented to the audience on stage and one recipient of the program, Edith VanDyke of Upper Burrell, a 95-year-old retiree from Alcoa, thanked the membership and audience for their support of Faith in Action.
Since 2006, the United Way Women's Leadership Council has targeted its fundraising to help frail and elderly seniors remain at home. WLC's investments have already allowed the establishment of four new Faith in Action® programs located in the Alle-Kiski, Murrysville, Irwin and Scottdale areas. Faith in Action is a community and interfaith volunteer effort that mobilizes, trains and supervises a volunteer corps who provide services such as escorts to doctor appointments, telephone reassurance calls, grocery shopping, check writing and referrals to other programs that assist older adults, often in concert with home health services or services from family members.
At the end of the breakfast, Mary Catherine Motchar, president of Arbor Industrial Supplies, Inc., encouraged members to rejoin and guests to consider being part of this growing group of women leaders. At the end of this year, Betsy Krisher, vice-president of Maher Duessel - Certified Public Accountants, and Mary Catherine Motchar, will serve as new chairs of the WLC in 2010, as it continues to foster philanthropy and leadership for women in our community.
United Way of Westmoreland County is a nonprofit organization that invests its resources in efforts that solve critical community problems with measurable results. Covering Westmoreland and portions of Fayette and Armstrong counties, we serve over 50,000 people through partnerships in three targeted areas: Helping Children & Youth Succeed; Building Strong Neighborhoods & Communities and Supporting Vulnerable & Aging Populations. For more information, please contact us at (724) 834-7170 or http://www.unitedway4u.org/.
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