Annual Meeting & Awards

Our Annual Meeting, held every January, is a time to gather with supporters, review the past year, and look ahead to the coming year. We welcome new staff, say goodbye to those who have left, and affirm and officially welcome new members to our steering committee. The meeting is also a time to honor volunteers and community partners who have demonstrated their commitment to our mission: to change attitudes, save lives, and end abuse.

The Michele Alexander Award for Volunteer Service…

…is given each year in memory of Michele Alexander, who was a member of Spruce Run’s Steering Committee prior to her tragic death in an auto accident in December 2003.  In her memory we established the Michele Alexander Award to remember and honor Michele’s many contributions to our organization. She not only worked long and hard in the service of Spruce Run and our mission, but she did so with a generous, grounded compassion for those who have been affected by abuse, and with a sense of joy, creativity and humor that made all the hard organizational work feel like a party.

2010 Recipient – Peggy Day

Peggy volunteered on the hotline for several years, starting in 1986. She has co-facilitated Spruce Run’s 40 hour hotline training at several times, and has often stepped in to support new hotline workers as they train. She also served on the Steering Committee for several years after her hotline work ended, but left the committee in the early 1990s. About four years ago she returned to the Steering Committee, and she now serves as the organizations’ treasurer.

The Partners in Change Award…

…was created in 2006 and is given to an outstanding community partner. Every person’s safety exists in the cultural context that we all create every day in our personal, professional, and civic lives with our words, actions, and choices regarding what we tolerate, what we challenge, and to whom we reach out. Each year Spruce Run honors a community partner whose actions reflect these ideals.

2010 Recipient – Shelley Gavett

Shelley teaches Health and Conflict Resolution at Hermon High School. She has worked with Spruce Run’s School-Based Program since 2003, and is committed to integrating information about domestic and dating abuse and healthy relationships into her students’ school experience. She encourages her students to become leaders in creating change and awareness in their schools. Their efforts include a major initiative during Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Week and Hermon High’s annual Challenge Day. Shelley uses every opportunity she has to create change in the lives of young people, and every aspect of her work reflects the ideals of this award.

To read about past recipients of Spruce Run’s awards, click here.

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