Leaders honored by Just Communities of WNY

Ritchie

Just Communities of WNY (formerly the NCCJ of WNY) will honor individuals and organizations who have distinguished themselves as leaders in the community through their work on behalf of others.

Honorees will be recognized during the organization's 2008 Community Leaders Awards Luncheon, which is being sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York and M&T Bank, on Thursday, Jan. 17 at the Buffalo Convention Center.

This event will be hosted by co-chairs Julie Coppola Cox, senior manager of corporate communications for National Fuel, and Amy Habib Rittling.

Tickets are available for the luncheon by contacting the NFJC of WNY at 853-9596. The Amherst residents are the award recipients:

• Arts: Rebecca Ritchie, of Williamsville, a local playwright and deputy general counsel for Health Care Services of Univera Healthcare, is recognized for using her work in the theatre as both a way to spread her messages of hope, love and perseverance and as a fundraising source for the American Cancer Society, the Jewish Community Center, the Susan B. Komen Survivors luncheon, and the Holocaust Resource Center. Her award-winning plays, which focus on the themes of feminism, Jewish history and culture, and breast cancer, reflect her own experiences and "serve as sources of strength to those in our community who need a real hand to hold."

Drake

• Community Service/Volunteerism: Shelley Cole Drake, of Snyder, chair and president of the M&T Charitable Foundation, works to coordinate financial contributions and employee volunteerism in support of a diverse range of not-for-profit organizations in communities where M&T does business. She has served on M&T's Diversity Council, and has sat on and led the boards of directors of several not-for-profit agencies.

• Government: Sen. Mary Lou Rath of Williamsville, the first woman elected to represent the 61st District, and the first woman to serve in state majority leadership, Rath is "a strong health care advocate, is dedicated to growing business in Western New York, and is committed to recognizing the outstanding women in leadership positions in New York State." Rath secured $175,000 in funding for the development of the child care center on Erie Community College's North Campus, and as former co-chair of the Senate's Task Force on Children's Health and Safety, she worked to enact legislation to protect children from abuse and neglect. Her charitable endeavors include board membership of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences and of the Buffalo State College Foundation,

Rath

• Interfaith: Rabbi Harry L. Rosenfeld, of Amherst, senior rabbi at Temple Beth Zion, he has "a deep and long held commitment to working to end racism and discrimination in America." Twice honored by the State of Alaska for his community service work and leadership, Rabbi Rosenfeld currently sits on the board of the Buffalo Jewish Federation, the Buffalo Bureau of Jewish Education, United Jewish Communities Rabbinic Cabinets, and is a past president of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis. Since his arrival in 2000, Rabbi Rosenfeld has expanded Temple Beth Zion's social justice program, including its Mitzvah Day program; Beth Zion is now the only synagogue in the nation to partner with a church and two mosques in its observances.

Rosenfeld

• Legal: The Honorable Sharon S. Townsend, of Williamsville, administrative judge of the Eighth Judicial District, is the first woman and the first Family Court judge to be so named. She was first elected as a Family Court judge in 1991, and then re-elected to a second 10-year term in 2001. Townsend is a member of the Permanent Judicial Commission on Justice for Children and was a model court lead judge for the National Council of Juvenile Court Judges. She currently sits on the YWCA Public Leadership Alumnae Network and has served on the Governor's Commission on Child Abuse and Neglect, the Junior League Community Advisory Board, and the Bry-Lin Hospital Community Advisory Board.

• Philanthropy: Dr. Janet. H Sung and Dr. John J. Sung. Janet, of Amherst, has worked in the WNY area since 1977 and opened the now Windsong Radiology Group in 1987. John has worked in the Western New York area since 1977, opened his own accounting practice in 1978 and was a professor of accounting at Daemen College from 1978 to 1987. Together, the Sungs created the $1 million Sung Scholarship Endowment Fund at the UB School of Medicine, which awards one four-year scholarship each year, and the Sung Family Foundation, established to support both local and international charities.

Townsend

• Youth: Esha Maheshwari, senior at Williamsville East High School; Jerry Ren, senior at Amherst Central High School; and Elisa Peebles of East Amherst, senior at the Nichols School.

Ja. Sung Jo. Sung