By Muncie Rotary Clubs—
MUNCIE, IN — The Muncie Noon Rotary Club, Sunrise Rotary Club, and PrimeTrust Federal Credit Union recognized six individuals at the 29th annual Very Important Volunteer Awards (V!VA) luncheon held on April 11, 2023, at the Horizon Convention Center.
The V!VA Awards were developed in 1993 as a gift to the Muncie community by the Muncie Rotary Club to recognize Delaware County’s proud volunteer heritage. The event rewards, reinforces, and inspires local volunteers to aspire to the Rotary ideal of “Service Above Self.” After receiving several nominations, a selection committee awarded traditional V!VA Awards to five individuals for their volunteer efforts in Delaware County within the past 12 months, and the Edmund F. Ball Lifetime Achievement Award to one person for her outstanding long-term volunteer commitment. Each V!VA Award Recipient received a plaque and public recognition for their efforts. The event began with 2022 District 6560 Rotarian of the Year Joann McKinney leading the Pledge of Allegiance and a proclamation from Mayor Dan Ridenour. Rotarian Dale Basham, a 2019 VIVA Lifetime Award winner, emceed the entire ceremony, which concluded with a benediction by Pastor Tammy Hallam of Eden Church.
V!VA Award Winners
This year’s honorees included:
Julie Maddux Fields
A native Munsonian from Delaware County north of Gaston, Julie served as an Elementary Special Education Teacher for 28 years in the Alexandria-Monroe Schools. She became involved with the Muncie Afghan Refugee Resettlement Committee, or MARRC, through her 36-year friendship with Bibi Bahrami. Julie met Bibi through Dr. Saber Bahrami, before he married Bibi. Dr. Bahrami asked Julie and her sister if they would embrace Bibi and be like a family to her when she arrived from Afghanistan. When MARRC sunsetted, Julie remained committed to this goal by continuing to serve on the new Refugee Alliance of Delaware County (RADC) as a board member and Co-Chair of Furniture and Essentials. Julie spends hours daily volunteering with open arms and open heart, helping to improve the lives of our recent new Afghan neighbors, welcoming a family of five (5)—soon to be six (6)—and as a dedicated medical advocate to three (3) additional families, totaling 25 individuals. She and her husband, Sam, regularly visit these families to make sure their needs are being met.
Dr. Corie Hess
In 2019, Dr. Corie Hess, a psychologist, founded the Muncie Maternal Mental Health Coalition (MMMHC). Since then, Dr. Hess has made the wellness of pregnant and postpartum individuals her life’s work. Over the last 2 years, she has overseen the group’s mission, which is in their words to “increase accessibility to specialized mental health care for new parents in Muncie and surrounding areas through community partnership, education, outreach, and advocacy.” Through MMMHC, Dr. Hess created the Muncie “Climb Out of Darkness” walk, an annual event raising awareness around the high prevalence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Under Hess’s leadership, the Coalition started a “Pregnancy and Infant Loss Memorial Service and Candlelight Vigil” in Muncie, which she continues to oversee. This event is held on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day—October 15—to honor, celebrate, and remember infants who have passed away due to miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal death, and other causes. The team at OpenDoor believes that Dr. Hess deserves a VIVA award because her work is driven by a deep compassion for other women, and that she is equally passionate about pulling others into her vision; that every pregnant and postpartum individual in our city will have access to the care and support they need.
Dr. Kevin Luksus
Dr. Luksus is the founder and serves as the volunteer Medical Director of Muncie Mission Clinic, a new venture providing free medical care for persons experiencing barriers to better health. Upon approaching retirement after more than 30 years in family practice, including a dozen years as a supervising physician in the IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital Family Residency Program, Dr. Luksus felt a distinct calling to address healthcare access for persons living in poverty. In early 2021, Dr. Luksus approached the Muncie Mission and found a willing partner to host a free medical clinic. He undertook a massive effort to research business models, prepared a feasibility plan, and initiated pursuit of federal indemnification for medical volunteers. Dr. Luksus worked with Monica Myers, an RN who serves as the clinic administrator, to write policies, procedures, and training programs, order equipment and supplies, obtain medical records software, and vet an initial roster of more than two dozen physician and nurse volunteers. Dr. Luksus has written, “It’s too easy to pass off caring for one’s neighbor to an agency or the government. The day may come when we have universal healthcare, but as a society, I suspect we may become even more distant from others and less cohesive as a community. You can’t legislate loving your neighbor.”
Scott Metzler
Scott is a well-respected insurance agent in Muncie, who volunteers as an active member of the Kiwanis Club, a vice president for ecoREHAB, and a dedicated leader to Boy Scout Troop 69 in Yorktown. Scott has been with the Kiwanis Club since 2013. He has been involved in several community service projects, such as distributing classroom supplies to teachers, and has kept the club vibrant and encouraged the membership to expand on the club’s defining statement of “improving the world, one child and one community at a time.” In addition, Scott joined the ecoREHAB team in the middle of major changes. He helped the group by recruiting volunteers, brought in a large donation, and assisted with their first Oktoberfest fundraiser. With the Boy Scouts, Scott helps teach and mentor scouts throughout the entire year. He shows up for all scout projects, helps set up and run fundraisers, and finds other people to teach the scouts. One of his many nominators stated that Scott not only mentors the children, but he also teaches everyone in the troop, including other adults as they enter new roles in the Scouts.
Dr. Lynn Witty
Dr. Witty’s youth took her to various places around the country, but she proudly claims Delaware County as her home. She attended Ball State and had hopes of becoming a professional musician. As one of her nominators said, “But, for our great fortune, she discovered her love for science, and her compassion for humans destined her to become a medical doctor.” After practicing as a local physician, Dr. Witty retired and took on an ever-increasing role as a volunteer faculty member for the Indiana University School of Medicine-Muncie. In this position, she has single-handedly connected medical students with various projects across community organizations, including Second Harvest Food Bank, Recovery Café, Avondale Church, Ross Community Center, Urban Lights, United Ministries, Whitely Neighborhood Association, and Blaine Neighborhood Association. In addition, Dr. Witty is a volunteer member of the Leadership Team for both the Addictions Coalition of Delaware County (ACDC) and the Ball State Center for Substance Use Research and Community Initiatives (SURCI). She helped the ACDC run a drug prevention day at Ball State that collected 20 gallons of unused prescription medication and provided educational materials on substance misuse to students. As part of her efforts that day, 50 students pledged to quit nicotine products, with 26 confirming quitting at a one-month follow-up. Dr. Witty was also instrumental in helping to organize and drive the movement to establish the recently announced Muncie Crisis Center. More recently, she was a central figure in submitting a grant application that requested nearly $12 million dollars in funding for Delaware County addiction services.
Edmund F. Ball Lifetime Award
Karen Allen
A lifelong resident of Muncie, Karen is well known as a humble and selfless individual whose daily random acts of kindness are plentiful, though likely go unnoticed. Karen recently retired as a home daycare provider, after many years of positively influencing the lives of dozens of children. In fact, children, especially the most vulnerable, are of special importance to Karen. The mother of four, she volunteered at Royerton Elementary for as long as her children attended and, for 35 years, she volunteered as a coach for Royerton youth softball. For more than 30 years, she also collected toys year-round for Muncie’s Toys for Tots. Because she wants every child to know that they matter, more than 10 years ago, Karen helped to found and continues to spearhead the “Hey-Hey Henry Bowling for Barth Syndrome Research,” with proceeds benefiting Riley Children’s Hospital, raising nearly $100,000. For more than 30 years, Karen has also shown her love and dedication to her community by cleaning up the Beech Grove Cemetery of litter and straightening flowers on random headstones. To this day, each spring, summer, and fall Karen ensures that no one is forgotten.
Congratulations to all the VIVA award winners and thank you for your service to the community.
Muncie Sunrise Rotary Club meets on Fridays at 7:00 A.M. at the Knights of Columbus, 3600 W. Purdue Avenue in Muncie, Indiana.
Muncie Noon Rotary Club meets on Tuesdays at Noon at Minnetrista, 1200 North Minnetrista Parkway in Muncie, Indiana.
About Rotary International
Rotary International was founded in 1905 in Chicago by Paul Harris and three business associates to “do good” in Chicago. Today, Rotary is a global network of 1.2 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who come together to make positive, lasting change in communities at home and abroad. The Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise. Rotary members believe that we have a shared responsibility to take action on our world’s most persistent issues. Our 35,000 clubs work together to: promote peace; fight disease; eradicate polio; provide clean water, sanitation, and hygiene; save mothers and children; support education; and grow local economies. The Rotary motto is “Service Above Self” based on the foundation of our values of service, fellowship, diversity, integrity, and leadership.
