Vulcans Community Awards winners to be honored at The Club
The Vulcan Park Foundation recently announced its honorees for 2019 in the annual Vulcans Community Awards, which recognize citizens in the seven-county Birmingham metropolitan area who demonstrate civic pride and leadership.
The recipients, chosen from about 100 nominees by an independent panel, will be honored at an awards dinner at The Club in Homewood on Nov. 7.
This year’s list includes several people who have made a big impact on Birmingham, including Cathy Sloss Jones of Sloss Real Estate, winner of the award for lifetime achievement.
The Vulcans honor 13 people in five award categories — Lifetime Achievement, Newcomer, Hero, Game Changer and Servant Leadership — and are divided into two broad groups: The Vulcans and Spears.
The complete list of the 2019 honorees is as follows:
THE VULCANS
► Lifetime Achievement: Cathy Sloss Jones.
► Hero: Loretta Herring of The Cancer Awareness Network of Children Inc.
► Newcomer: Mark W.C. Martin of Build UP Ensley.
► Game Changer: Buddy Palmer of Create Birmingham.
► Servant Leadership: Uma Srivastava of KultureCity.
SPEARS
► Heroes: Mary White and Shuanta Woods of Deja King Foundation.
► Newcomers: Charity Moore of Chocolate Milk Mommies and Mary Helmer of Main Street Alabama
► Game Changers: Kristina Scott of Alabama Possible and Adrienne Starks of STREAM Innovations
► Servant Leadership: Joan Witherspoon-Norris of YWCA Central Alabama and LaTonya Smith of Aunt Ethel’s Helping Hands.
These honorees “inspire all of us to engage in the community and to serve others,” said Angela Wier, director of development for the Vulcan Park Foundation.
Jones has worked to make creative reuse of older buildings, including Pepper Place in Lakeview, to draw people back to Birmingham’s City Center. She has also been an advocate for walkability and started an Alabama chapter of the Urban Land Institute.
Mark W.C. Martin launched the Build Urban Prosperity program. Build UP Ensley, the program’s pilot site, provides low-income youth with career-ready skills through paid apprenticeships.
As president and CEO of Create Birmingham, Buddy Palmer works to support the creative industries in the city by encouraging workforce development, entrepreneurial ventures and job growth.
Uma Srivastava is the volunteer COO of KultureCity, a nonprofit based in Birmingham whose mission is to create acceptance for individuals with unique abilities.
Loretta Herring is CEO of The Cancer Awareness Network for Children and lobbies for cancer survivorship awareness, particularly in communities of color.
For tickets to the awards dinner, go to thevulcans.swell.gives.