http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/31/3633866/3-individuals-to-receive-leadership.html
BY IAN CUMMINGS
The Kansas City Star
Representatives from Harvesters, the Jackson County medical examiner’s office and the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance will be honored with leadership awards Friday.
The Mid-America Regional Council will present the awards at its 16th annual Regional Assembly, a fundraising lunch at the Westin Crown Center.
Since 1992, the regional council has given annual Leadership Awards to public officials and leaders of nonprofits and organizations for applying innovative solutions to regional challenges, said Jody Ladd Craig, a spokeswoman for the council.
Karen Haren will be honored for her work with Harvesters, which was named 2011 Food Bank of the Year by Feeding America. Haren is president and CEO of Harvesters and has been involved in hunger relief and advocacy for 26 years.
Michael Henderson, chief investigator for the Jackson County medical examiner’s office, helped direct mortuary operations at Joplin, Mo., after the devastating tornado a year ago. He will be recognized for his leadership in establishing the Kansas City Operational Response Group to respond to mass fatality events in the nine-county MARC region.
Kitty McCoy, a former chairwoman of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance, led the group’s sponsorship of a streetcar display at Union Station in support of a downtown Kansas City transit study.
The Young Men’s Christian Association of Greater Kansas City and Ripple Glass, a local glass recycler, will also receive the awards.
Ripple Glass opened Kansas City’s only glass recycling plant in 2009 and is now working to expand those operations regionally through Kansas and Missouri and into Nebraska and Arkansas.
The YMCA was selected in 2011 to participate in the national Pioneering Healthier Communities program, which encourages local leaders to promote healthy eating and physical activities in their communities.
Mick Cornett, the mayor of Oklahoma City, will deliver the keynote address at Friday’s event, which celebrates the regional council’s 40th anniversary.
For more information about the Mid-America Regional Council, go to www.marc.org.