West Virginia’s 10th Annual Spirit of Philanthropy Awards Announced

In a time when West Virginia needs positive growth, the 10th Annual Spirit of Philanthropy Awards showcase the best of West Virginia. At the recent Philanthropy WV Annual Conference, three tremendous leaders and community collaborations were honored for their outstanding impact on community development and betterment across the Mountain State.
The Spirit of Philanthropy Awards are West Virginia’s premier awards honoring the generosity and philanthropic investments made by individuals, organizations, businesses, and collaborative projects in our state. The awards are sponsored McKinley Carter Wealth Services. “Philanthropy is defined as a desire to help humankind and benevolence. This year’s honorees exemplify not just a desire, but taking action to improve the opportunities for communities and our citizens in our beautiful state,” shared Philanthropy WV President & CEO Paul D. Daugherty. 2016 marks the 10th anniversary for presenting the awards and this year Philanthropy West Virginia presented the award to three honorees. The honorees included:
Spirit of Philanthropy for Critical Impact: The Beckley Area Foundation’s community development project with the United Way of Southern West Virginia. The Foundation was able to use the gift from a local leader to leverage a permanent incubator space for the United Way’s operations and program outreach. This innovative project resulted in a major gift to the Beckley Area Foundation allowing for the United Way to find a permanent home with a new endowment created advancing their impact in the southern coalfields of West Virginia. In this time of economic challenges, this project provided a critical impact to give some sustainable support to the United Way’s great work in a much deserving area of the state.
Spirit of Philanthropy for Volunteer Leadership: A recognized pillar of the Wheeling, WV and northern panhandle community William “Bill” N. Hogan was recognized for his lifetime of work in Wheeling as a volunteer leader serving on the Albert Schenk III & Kathleen Schenk Charitable Trust and other grantmaking organizations in the region. The Youth Services System of Wheeling, WV nominated him for the honor. As they noted in their nomination of Mr. Hogan, “Bill Hogan believes that people and organizations, given the tools, can build the capacity of the whole community to meet needs. What distinguishes Bill Hogan is his interest, engagement with others, and his empathy. He brings people together. He helps garner resources and support for projects and he works to enable projects and people to grow and thrive.” Mr. Hogan’s generous contributions to the Wheeling and Northern Panhandle region are numerous having a lasting impact for generations to come.
Spirit of Philanthropy for Staff Leadership: Revitalizing communities and ensuring strong philanthropic resources are for the present and future requires strong leadership and innovative approaches. The 2016 Spirit of Philanthropy Staff Leadership Diane Hinkle, director of development for the Tucker Community Foundation exemplifies strong leadership, innovation, passion, commitment and delivering results. Ms. Hinkle is an outstanding leader in creating new and never tried concepts for growing philanthropy that addresses needs of the community and region. Her impact is beyond philanthropy with innovations that are launching new opportunities for tourism, community development, economic impact, and nonprofit capacity building.
“From the southern coalfields to the northern panhandle to the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia and beyond, this year’s honorees of the Beckley Area Foundation, Bill Hogan, and Diane Hinkle exemplify the best in West Virginia philanthropy. Their work is transforming and strengthening communities and our state,” said Paul D. Daugherty. He added, “During these challenging times, philanthropy must work together with our partners across all sectors to improve our state and opportunities for our citizens.”