Press Releases
ATLANTA – March 11, 2022 – Today the American Cancer Society honors the winners of the 2021 American Cancer Society Volunteer Staff Partnership Award, a national honor in recognition of a volunteer and staff team that has positively impacted the American Cancer Society (ACS) mission. The recipients are Wendi Schweigart and Samantha Molinero, West Region; Joe Koenig and Jason McClelland, North Region; Carlton Allen and Lakeye Hurd, South Region; Rick Peltz and Jessica McCrea, North Central Region; Peter E. Bradley and Brittany Lawton, Northeast Region; and Robert Winn, M.D. and Riguey King, Southeast Region.
The partnerships between volunteers and staff are critical to achieving the ACS mission. Together they operate side-by-side in the community or across the globe. These teams collaborate on projects and are key to ACS success.
Nominees must have worked together for a minimum of one year. Each volunteer and staff partnership must show leadership in a project that successfully impacted the ACS mission in at least two ways by increasing community engagements, growing revenue, reaching underserved populations, embracing diversity, recruitment and retention of volunteers, enhancing stewardship, and/or creating new opportunities. The Volunteer Staff Partnership Award Selection Workgroup carefully reviews all nominations.
Wendi Schweigart and Samantha Molinero, West Region: Wendi began volunteering with the American Cancer Society as a member of the Construction vs Cancer event committee in the Las Vegas market. She quickly expanded her involvement to include efforts in recruiting candidates for both the ResearcHERS and Real Men Wear Pink campaigns. Together, Wendi and Samantha have recruited several members of the construction industry to get involved with the Construction vs Cancer event and have encouraged those leaders to cast a wide net and continuously grow this innovative event.
Joe Koenig and Jason McClelland, North Region: Throughout the last five years, a strong partnership has grown between Joe and Jason due to several collaboration opportunities. This year alone, World Wide Technology’s (where Joe is president) overall giving to ACS, through all revenue channels has grown from $177,000 in 2020 to over $214,000 in 2021. Also, because the connections are so personal with Joe’s experience as a survivor, this has led to individual major gifts from him. Through their collaboration, they have generated a more focused vision of chapter and market engagement and resulting goals. Joe’s philosophy of “Get to the point; make the ask” has been critical in helping to shape how we’re interacting with such high-level leaders. Jason is thoughtful about communicating with Joe and managing priorities, asks, and expectations and Joe is generous with his time and talents.
Carlton Allen and Lakeye Hurd, South Region: For the past six years, Carlton and Lakeye have worked closely together. This partnership is a testament to the quality of work that Carlton, his team, and Lakeye have been able to do together. They both continue to find innovative ways to educate and screen individuals in Northeast Texas and promote the (Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) project. Over the project’s lifetime: 10,113 colorectal screenings have been completed (8,314 FIT & 1,799 colonoscopies), educated over 1,600 health professionals, and provided outreach to over 16,000 individuals using an inflatable colon to bring awareness to the community on the importance of colorectal screenings.
Rick Peltz and Jessica McCrea, North Central Region: Rick and Jessica have a strong collaborative relationship that allows them to effectively work together, grow the golf classic, and provide support to Coach Mike Brey, Notre Dame’s men’s basketball coach. While the event is filled with long time supporters of Notre Dame and Coach Brey’s efforts, this team works each year to secure new donors, sponsors, and volunteers for the golf outing so that it can continue to grow and maintain a high level of engagement from the community. This mutual relationship has resulted in the event consistently meeting or exceeding goal. In fact, the event raised 166% of goal this year, a record breaking $415,000. Their eight-year partnership is built on recognition of each other’s efforts and mutual respect for the work accomplished. With the support of Rick and Jessica, Coach Brey has raised over $3.7 million for Coaches vs. Cancer since coming to Notre Dame in 2001.
Peter E. Bradley and Brittany Lawton, Northeast Region: Peter and Brittany have a fantastic working relationship that allows them to work closely to find solutions to obstacles that the MSABC Long Island faces. One obstacle identified was the need for setup volunteers for the largest MSABC walk in the country. Pete found a solution by securing a construction company that he worked closely with in his job to set up the MSBAC walk for the past three years. In the same time span, Pete's drive has saved ACS over $3,000 each year in rental fees for generators and light towers and has allowed this event to acquire and maintain large $20,000 sponsorships by building HOPE letters that can withstand high winds. Pete is a dedicated volunteer that wears many hats from MSABC to CPS-3. Pete and Brittany fulfill the promises of the ACS mission not only on Long Island, but across the country and globally.
Robert Winn, M.D. and Riguey King, Southeast Region: Dr. Winn and Riguey’s growing partnership greatly impacts the work of VCU Massey Cancer Center and ACS. Dr. Winn is one of the nation’s top experts and advocates for health equity and Riguey is well connected and knowledgeable about the cancer burden in Virginia, including pronounced disparities in breast cancer mortality rates among African American women, among others. Dr. Winn served as a key contributor and expert voice in establishing a breast health equity summit. The virtual summit in in 2021 dug deeper into specific issues, challenges, and opportunities related to disparities in breast cancer screening rates. Beyond the breast health equity work, Riguey and Dr. Winn have built a relationship that helps ACS and VCU Massey Cancer Center better serve cancer patients and the community at large.
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