Mon Valley Initiative dispenses community awards
Teresa Seh of Monessen Communities That Care, left, accepts a community partner award from former Monessen mayor Mary Jo Smith.
Debra Keefer, retired executive director of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce in Charleroi, speaks Thursday night at Mon Valley Initiative's 30th anniversary banquet and community awards dinner.
Joseph P. Flynn Jr., senior vice president of community development for WesBanco and vice chairman of Mon Valley Initiative, challenged young people in the audience to imagine what the next 30 years might mean for the Mon Valley.
Radio host Larry Berger remembers 1988, when the Mon Valley was in a dire state.
“I was a recent college graduate with a chemical engineering degree who was underemployed and looking very hard for a job in the steel industry – which was not providing much employment at the time,” said Berger, whose “Saturday Light Brigade” is heard on radio stations in five states, including Washington’s WNJR-FM (91.7).
If the outlook in the Mon Valley is better today, organizations such as Mon Valley Initiative deserve credit, said Berger, who served as master of ceremonies for the group’s 30th anniversary banquet Thursday night.
Some of the success stories that guests shared were “incredible,” Berger said. “It’s remarkable how simple the solutions can be when the problems are so complicated and messy.”
MVI and its partner organizations in Charleroi, Monessen and other communities presented awards to residents who have tackled issues ranging from blight removal and hunger to education and job readiness. About 200 people attended the event at the Sunset Room in Elizabeth Township, Allegheny County.
People who volunteer and participate with local groups “are vitally important,” said Mary Carol Kennedy, who chairs MVI’s board of directors. “Without them, so many projects – both large and small – wouldn’t get done.”
Debra Keefer, retired executive director of the Mon Valley Regional Chamber of Commerce, received a community partner award for helping to stabilize Charleroi’s business district and launching activities such as “Hoodie Hoo Day.”
“Many times I’ve looked to Mon Valley Initiative for help, because they get results,” Keefer said. “I’m all for studies, but when you make things happen, I’m impressed.”
Monessen Communities That Care, a program that provides mentoring, job-skills training and drug-prevention education to teens and young adults, also was recognized with a community partner award.
Teresa Seh, the president, said the Monessen group is a “grassroots” effort.
“I stand here just as the mobilizer,” she said. “All of the work is done by community partners and volunteers. For those of you work in community (services), I don’t have to tell you, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s tough . . . and recognition doesn’t come very often.”
Joseph Flynn Jr., MVI’s vice chair and a senior vice president at WesBanco, called MVI’s staff and volunteers “the greatest team in America.” But he challenged younger people in the audience to imagine what the Mon Valley will look like in the future.
“What are you going to do in the next 30 years?” said Flynn, of Mt. Lebanon. “Because most of the projects that MVI gets involved with come from people like you.”