Chamber honors individuals, organizations with Diamond Awards

The Shelby County Chamber of Commerce presented their annual Shelby County Diamond Awards presentation via Zoom on Nov. 19. 

21 people and organizations were nominated for the awards. The three categories included “Public Servant of the Year”, “Citizen of the Year,” and “Non-Profit Organization of the Year.”

Nominees were evaluated on the following criteria:

• How the organization, or individual, has made a positive difference in the county or a specific municipality
• Significant accomplishments achieved by the organization or individual
• How the organization or individual has improved the county or a specific municipality

Nominees also had to either operate, work or live in Shelby County.

Nominees in all categories in alphabetical order were:

• Bruce Andrews
• CASA of Shelby County
• Faye Lacagnina
• God Did It Ministries
• Grace Klein Community 
• Gretchen DiFante
• JaneAnn Mueller
• King’s Home 
• Matthew Powers
• Michael Woolley
• NAMI Shelby
• Pat Lozito 
• Ricky Rushton
• Sav-A-Life Shelby
• Second Shift
• Shelby County Arts Council 
• Shelby County Schools Education Foundation
• Stephanie Douglas 
• Tony Picklesimer 
• Traci Fox
• Two by Two Rescue 

Chamber President and CEO Kirk Mancer said this is a great group of individuals and organizations that we have in Shelby County and thanked them for all they do to make Shelby Co a great place to work and do business.

Winners of the 2020 Diamond Awards were:

Citizen of the year: Faye Lacagnina 

"She contacts all Shelby County RSVP members on their birthday and sends cards and furnishes them with facemasks," Mancer said. "She has a heart for shut-ins and goes out of her way to provide hot meals. She assists with senior care, veteran care, and donation collections."

Public servant of year: Gretchen DiFante, city manager for the city of Pelham

"DiFante has elevated the expectations of local government in Shelby County and brought a professional mindset to the city," Mancer said. "She demands excellence and accountability and is always ready to do whatever possible to make sure Pelham is the best city possible."

Nonprofit organization of the year: NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) of Shelby County

"Since 2009, this local affiliate of NAMI has provided support, education and advocacy for those with mental illnesses," Mancer said. "Since COVID-19 has greatly limited the ability to meet in person the organization  realized the importance of staying connected and have been conducting support meetings, education meetings and family to family meetings via Zoom."

“Congratulations on the work you do that makes our county and community second to none,” Mancer said.