From Duane Gordon

Nominations are now open for greater Middletown and West Chester region residents to be considered for the fourth annual Steel Magnolia Award, the Middletown Community Foundation has announced.

Women who have overcome obstacles to positively impact their communities have the opportunity to earn recognition as Steel Magnolia Award recipients in the program funded by the AK Steel Foundation. Up to 10 awards are given annually, limited to no more than one recipient per AK Steel U.S. location per year. Each recipient designates a $1,000 donation to an eligible charity of her choice.

The award honors women of all ages who have faced personal adversity and have shown exceptional strength, courage, compassion and leadership through their work in support of their communities.

“The courage and strength of the previous Steel Magnolia Award recipients are an inspiration. In honor and respect for women who have succeeded in spite of adversity, The AK Steel Foundation is proud to fund the Steel Magnolia Award,” said James L. Wainscott, chairman, president and CEO of AK Steel.

Middletown Community Foundation Executive Director T. Duane Gordon added: “The women considered for the Steel Magnolia each year come from a diverse and impressive group of individuals who have given so much to their communities that I wish we could recognize them all for their amazing efforts.”

Last year’s Middletown-area honoree was Nancy Bender of Butler County, who selected Animal Friends Humane Society’s PetMobile Adoption Program for homeless animals to receive the award’s $1,000 prize. Last year’s West Chester-area honoree was Dr. Janet B. Reid of Cincinnati, who chose sickle cell disease research of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for her prize.

Born into silence, Bender began using hearing aids at the age of 5. Even then, she had difficulty understanding words aurally and became dependent on lip-reading. She studied to become a registered nurse and was valedictorian of her class at Sinclair College. After graduation, she was instrumental in incorporating medical sign language into Sinclair’s curriculum, one of just three such programs in the state. She worked in Los Angeles, where her hospital named her Nurse of the Year in 1986. She has suffered from hypothyroidism, tumors, thyroid cancer, epilepsy, and radiation poisoning, illnesses that have caused her to give up her nursing career. Locally, her love of animals moved her to lead the campaign to pass a levy to build a new animal shelter for the Animal Friends Humane Society in Butler County, promoting her cause by standing outside a polling place on election day in the rain wearing a Scooby Doo costume. The Fairfield Township resident who lives between Hamilton and Monroe serves as editor of the shelter’s newsletter and heads seminars to train staff and volunteers to cope with caregiver burn-out.

Reid has endured multiple joint replacements, monthly blood exchanges and extreme pain, fatigue and pulmonary distress due to her sickle cell beta thalassemia. Holding a bachelor’s in chemistry and Ph.D. in bioinorganic chemistry, she is a published researcher in the area of kinetics and metalloporphyrins and worked for a decade as a brand manager for Proctor and Gamble. She founded her own company 17 years ago, an international management consulting firm called Global Lead Management Consulting, which focuses on leadership development in 20 countries. She gives back to the community through her service on the boards of Catholic Health Partners, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Cincinnati Branch, the Ohio State University, Xavier University and United Way of Greater Cincinnati.

Nominations, which should take the form of an essay of 500 words or less, must be submitted to the program administrator, the Middletown Community Foundation, no later than July 31. Nominees must live in the vicinity of an AK Steel facility. Association with AK Steel is not a requirement for nomination and will have no bearing on the nominee’s consideration.

Other eligible communities are Ashland, Ky.; Butler, Pa.; Columbus and Rockport, Ind.; and Coshocton, Mansfield, Walbridge and Zanesville, Ohio.

Visit www.mcfoundation.org/steelmagnolia to view complete requirements and obtain a nomination form. For more information, contact the Middletown Community Foundation at 513-424-7369.