DARKE COUNTY – Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County announced the newest members to its Board of Trustees.
New members include Eric Fee, Carol Holmes, Larry Holmes, Maverick Long and Diane Ontrop. Fee owns Tribute Funeral Homes in Greenville. Carol Holmes is a retired school teacher from Greenville City Schools in Greenville. Larry Holmes is a finance executive at Fort Recovery Industries in Fort Recovery. Long is a human resources coordinator at Freshway Foods in Sidney. Ontrop is an accountant at Emerson Climate Technologies in Sidney. All of the new members bring expertise and experience to the board.
The returning board members include Mindy Adams, a CPA with KPMG; Eric Ambos, assistant prosecutor with Shelby County Prosecutor’s Office; Peggy Baird, realtor with Emerson Wagner Realty; Chad Beanblossom, dean at Edison State Community College-Darke County Branch; Velina Bogart, coordinator of early college programs at Edison State Community College; John Coffield, Shelby County treasurer; Barbara Dulworth, community service director with City of Sidney; Terri Flood, director of marketing and communications for Wayne HealthCare; Keith Foutz, president and publisher at Brothers Publishing Company; Peggy Foutz, administrative specialist for Financial Achievement Services, Inc.; Jennifer Henke, attendance officer with Upper Valley Career Center; Carol Johnston, same day surgery nurse manager at Wilson Health; Tom Martin, president of Sidney Body Carstar and Troy Carstar; Mike Rosengarten, police captain with Sidney Police Department; Angie Ross, human resources at Ferguson Construction; Lesley Schweitzer, auditor with Ohio Auditor of State; Linda Searls, AVP loan processing manager with Greenville Federal; and Greg Zechar, funeral director/embalmer for Zechar-Bailey Funeral Homes.
Board members play an intricate role in ensuring the success of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County’s programs. The agency’s mission is to provide children facing adversity with strong and enduring, professionally-supported, one-to-one relationships that change their lives for the better, forever. Their vision is for all children to achieve success in life. By partnering with parents/guardians, volunteers and others in the community, the agency is accountable for each child in its program achieving higher aspirations, greater confidence, better relationships, avoidance of risky behaviors and educational success.
“Having a strong board is an important part of the success of the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs. The knowledge, experience and support they bring to the table is outstanding. I look to them on a regular basis for advice, outside feedback and connections to grow the agency in many capacities. I am very fortunate to have such a wonderful group of volunteers to back me up in my role as director,” Executive Director Jennifer Bruns said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is a non-profit United Way member agency. There currently are 25 children throughout Shelby and Darke County waiting to be matched with an adult mentor. Anyone who would like to become an event sponsor, donor, volunteer or learn more about how to make a difference in a child’s life, contact the local agency at 937-492-7611, 937-547-9622 or go to www.bigbrobigsis-shelbydarke.org for more information.
