Volunteer of the Year
Amanda Womac

It is my pleasure to share some great news!

HSF volunteer Lolita Kressin was awarded “Volunteer of the Year” at the 1^st Annual Blount County Chamber Foundation Philanthropy Day Breakfast Thursday, Nov. 18 at the Hilton.

Lolita was honored for her work on creating and implementing our Hearing Aid Recycling Program, which in its first year alone helped the Foundation save about $20,000 in hearing aid costs.

Lolita was also honored for her time spent on organizing the 2010 Swing into Spring Fashion Show and Luncheon, as well as her time spent as secretary of the HSF board of directors.

It was an honor to have the opportunity to nominate Lolita. When I first stepped into this position of ED for HSF, Lolita spent many hours orientating me to the ways of HSF. I really appreciate all the work she has done to help the Foundation continue providing the Gift of Sound to the people of East Tennessee and beyond.

Thank you Lolita! You are an inspiration!

Read the full story from Blount Today.

Nomination:
It is my pleasure to nominate Lolita Kressin for Volunteer of the Year for the 1^st Annual Blount County Philanthropy Day.

Lolita is a board member and volunteer with the Hearing and Speech Foundation. She has been active with the Foundation for two years and, in that time, taken on leadership roles and projects. Lolita is truly the definition of “boots on the ground.”

Her leadership roles include Secretary of the Board of Directors and member of the Executive Committee. In November of 2008, Lolita created the Hearing Aid Recycling Program, or HARP, to help off-set hearing aid costs for our Foundation patients. In the first year alone, this program proved to be a success. We fitted 157 donated aids on patients, saving the Foundation over $20,000 in hearing aid costs. On average, Lolita spends anywhere from 5 to 10 hours a week working on expanding HARP throughout East Tennessee by contacting funeral home directors, nursing home staff, hearing aid dispensers and other audiologists. Currently, she is working on a partnership with the Lions Club to expand our services to more low-income individuals in East Tennessee. Lolita has also been successful in establishing relationship with media for this project. Please see our Web site at www.HSFWeb.org services-and-programs/hearing-aid-recycling for a news segment by WBIR.

In addition to her service on the board of directors, executive committee and participation with HARP, Lolita serves on the Fashion Show committee, which is responsible for planning and executing two fashion shows and luncheons during the fiscal year – Swing into Spring and Wrapped in Style. In March of this year, Lolita worked for hours upon hours getting items donated for the live auction, which also were used as stage decorations that she designed. The day before the event, Lolita worked until 10 p.m. setting up the stage and, the day of, woke up at 5 a.m. to prepare hand-dipped chocolate-covered strawberries for each event attendee.

The Foundation would not be where it is today without the volunteer spirit and dedication Lolita Kressin brings to the table. If anyone in this county deserves to be named Volunteer of the Year, it is Lolita Kressin for her instrumental work with the Hearing and Speech Foundation.