Independent Perspective 1754 with Michael Benzin about the honorees from the WNYIL Annual Meeting.  

Host: Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Mike Benson, Chief Community Engagement Officer of WNYIL. And I am your host, Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program, Mike. 

Guest: Thank you, Ernie. 

Host: And apologizing to everybody for my cold, but you're going to be doing most of the talking anyway, fortunately. Recently the agency has had a very big occasion which has significance to the community that really ought to be told outside of our walls. Could you tell us what that was and why it's important? 

Guest: Yes, I wanted to talk a little bit about WNYIL’s Annual Meeting which was held last Tuesday at the Buffalo Marriott Niagara in Amherst. Nonprofit organizations have annual meetings for a number of different reasons. One is to handle some of the basic annual governance issues of the organization. 

Two is to celebrate all the accomplishments of the previous year and then set the table for what plans are for the coming year, but also to recognize and honor some supporters that have kind of stood heads and shoulders above everybody else. 

So, at that annual meeting, which was held in-person and virtually on Zoom, we recognized four individuals and organizations for just significant and great accomplishments over the last year. 

The first one was the Joanne Wozniak Employee of the Year. Joanne was a well-loved employee of WNYIL for a long time. And that award went to Douglas Bisher. Doug works up in Independent Living of Niagara County as a peer support specialist, primarily working with addicts and families for people that are having substance abuse issues and he's just, his community outreach has been fantastic. His impact on so many lives has been fantastic. He's the driver of the annual Overdose Awareness Day in Lockport. So last year he just did some tremendous things. So, out of all the organizations, all the individual affiliates of the organization, Doug was recognized as employee of the year. 

The second honor was our Corporate Support Award and that goes to an outside organization who supports Independent Living’s efforts to bring our and embrace our Independent Living philosophy throughout the community. And that award went to the Community Service Society of New York. They're based in in New York City, but they have a partnership with our agency that helps with our ICANN project, which is our Ombudsman program to support people that are going through managed long-term care. They work with us on our MAAP, Medicaid Application Assistance Program. They've helped sponsor Disability Pride Day and Niagara Frontier Radio Reading and have just been really good friends for us and for advocating for disability rights, not just in Western New York but across New York State. So, we presented the Corporate Support Award to David Jones and David Silva, who are two principals with that organization. 

We also recognized Emily Watkins, who mans the disability desk of WBFO radio, with our Elaine Wells Community Support award. Elaine Wells was a big supporter of our organization for a long time. Emily not only staffs the disability desk, but she has done a great job advocating for people with disabilities, looking out for people with disabilities. She has a disability herself, so she brings that first person perspective to her job. And she's just been a tremendous impact on the disability community and her coverage of that community. 

And the last award went to our Volunteers of the Year. Usually, it's a Volunteer of the Year, but in this case, we went to a couple, Ron and Corine Gilson are two people who volunteer for Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service. They've been working with the organization for four years, maybe five and they were just regular volunteers before COVID. But when COVID hit and people had to start recording from home because the studios were closed, they built a home studio. They not only started recording from home, but they started reading Wall Street Journal four or five days a week to help cover for everybody that couldn't read from home. 

And then Ron Gelson's, a retired engineer, so he helped refurbish a lot of our radios. So, they got the Volunteer of the Year award. 

Host: Mike, believe it or not, we're totally out of time. If people have any questions, whom should they call? 

Guest: They can call me at 836-0822 ext. 450. 

Host: Thanks for being with us, Mike.  

Guest: Thank you, Ernie. 

Host: You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today has been Mike Benzin, Chief Community Engagement Officer of WNYIL and I've been more or less your host, Ernie Churchwell.