Congratulations to all of our outstanding nominees for our Luminary Awards Virtual Luncheon held on October 15, 2020! The virtual event was live-streamed as we honored seven individuals nominated by their peers because of their excellence in their work environment and the community. The two highly respected award recipients are employees of a West Shore Chamber of Commerce member and were recognized with either the Shining Star or Visionary Award.
The requirements for the Shining Star Award are that the nominee holds a non-executive position within their place of employment, volunteers within the community, seeks to continually improve themselves both professionally and personally, and is a strong team player. CyndiLou Foster with Homewood Suites by Hilton Harrisburg West (High Hotels), Barrie Ann George with Safe Harbour, Inc., Kayla Murr with Best Western Plus Harrisburg – Mechanicsburg (Areya Management) and Alexandria Resetar with AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union were nominated for our Shining Star Award.
The requirements for our Visionary Award are that the nominee holds an executive leadership position within their place of employment, demonstrates community leadership, contributes to the success of women of any age, and facilitates team building through her vision and leadership. Kate Deringer Sallie with Pillar+Aught, Molly Helmstetter, CFRE with New Hope Ministries and Janice L. Snyder, CPA with McKonly & Asbury, LLP were nominated for our Visionary Award.
Voted on in a blind review process by our Women in Business Roundtable Committee, Barrie Ann George of Safe Harbour, Inc. was chosen as the recipient of the Shining Star Award, and Molly Helmstetter, CFRE of New Hope Ministries was chosen as the recipient of the Visionary Award.
Cindy Strupp
Shining Star Award Recipient
Barrie Ann George, Safe Harbour, Inc.
Barrie Ann is originally from Easton, PA. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Government Administration and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Shippensburg University. Though she began her career in Economic Development, she realized her true passion is working in the Human Service field. During her 30-year career in human services, Barrie Ann has worked at the United Way of Carlisle & Cumberland County in community building and early childhood education advocacy as well as at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, last holding the position of Cumberland County Director. She currently serves as the Director of Development and Communications at Safe Harbour. Barrie Ann is a proud 2017 graduate of Leadership Cumberland. Barrie Ann has an extensive list of community volunteerism. Most notably she served as President of the Carlisle Kiwanis Club in 2015-16 and currently serves as Club Secretary. She also volunteers with the Carlisle Area Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Cumberland, the Cumberland County Commission for Women and Success By 6. She has been married to Joseph George for 28 years. Sharing a passion for the arts, together they have been writing the Fine Arts columns for The Sentinel newspaper and the Dillsburg Banner newspaper for the past 7 years. Barrie Ann and her husband have two children; Trent, who is a social worker, and Sydney, a freshman at Millersville University.
Visionary Award Recipient
Molly Helmstetter, CFRE, New Hope Ministries
Molly has been a fundraiser in the nonprofit world for twenty-five years, serving a variety of agencies from grassroots to national organizations, in the education, health, and human services fields, primarily in Maryland and Pennsylvania communities. After living and working in Maryland in the early part of her career, she moved to Pennsylvania in 2004 to stay home with her two young children. Soon after, she jumped right back into fundraising, getting to know a new community, right at the beginning of the last recession. For close to twelve years, she has been the Director of Development at New Hope Ministries based in south-central Pennsylvania, overseeing and conducting various fundraising activities, campaigns, and appeals, while investigating and implementing new ways to engage the community New Hope serves through creative and engaging marketing activities. Molly is a Certified Fund-Raising Executive (CFRE) and current Board President of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Outside of fundraising and volunteering, Molly is a National Parks geek, avid traveling wanderer, an admirer of the arts, and still that “sometimes” embarrassing mom to her two adult children, Madeline (21) and Grant (19).
Safe Harbour, Inc. and New Hope Ministries were the two nonprofits chosen by the recipients to receive a portion of the proceeds from the event. This year, there was also choice with each ticket cost of either a $15 gift certificate to one of our member restaurants or donating back $15 of the ticket cost to a member nonprofit. We are happy to say that most attendees chose to donate their $15 and we will be able to support our member nonprofits even more this year!
Thank you to Highmark/PennState Health, Klock Entertainment, SPAtacular Escapes/The Carlisle Group, Susquehanna Style, and Wells Fargo Advisors for their generous sponsorships to make this event possible.
About the West Shore Chamber of Commerce
The West Shore Chamber of Commerce is a dynamic business organization that advances member success, influences issues and exemplifies strong business performance. The Chamber represents, promotes and facilitates business for the community. To learn more about the West Shore Chamber of Commerce, visit www.wschamber.org.
