2008 Heartland Heroes

2008 Heartland Heroes will be honored May 4

            At the 2008 Heartland Heroes Celebration, the American Red Cross of Medina County  will honor 16 real heroes of Medina County.  The Chapter will honor ordinary people from the community who have performed extraordinary acts of courage to save a life or have committed countless hours to a special cause.

            This year’s Heartland Heroes are:  Christy Moats, Darlene Donkin and Steve Rhein of the Medina Community Recreation Center who used CPR and an AED to save a patron experiencing cardiac difficulty; Debbie Kubena-Yatsko of Medina Metropolitan Housing Authority for volunteering time and personal sacrifice for housing and food for needy families; Eileen Brubaker of Ella Canavan Elementary School for performing the Heimlich maneuver to save a choking kindergarten student; Harley Steppenbacker of the Ohio State High Patrol who helped his neighbor who was on fire from an explosion in his garage; Jim Crocker and Don Sprinkle of Liverpool Township who pulled a trapped driver from a burning vehicle; Kim Galehouse of Marshallville who rescued a truck driver whose cab was in flames at a Lodi railroad crossing; Linda Klucar, Beth Klinect and Sgt. Beverly Fraser of the Medina County Sheriff’s Office for volunteering time and personal sacrifice for Relay for Life; and Mark Abood of Brunswick who donated peripheral blood stem cells to help a patient with lymphoma.

            In the Line of Duty Hero is Terry Gluszek of the Brunswick City Police Department who advised a stabbing victim on the telephone and relayed responding officers.

            Little Heroes are Kassidy D’Annolfo of Fenn Elementary School who organized children to make and ship supplies for soldiers in Afghanistan, and students at Buckeye Junior High School who held numerous fundraisers to help the family of a fellow 7^th grader with cancer.

            A committee of six judges chose the heroes, using criteria such as the selflessness of the act and the degree of risk.  Judges were Neil Hassinger, Medina County Sheriff; Will Koran, Superintendent of Medina County Schools; Kent Patterson, Westfield Village Chief of Police; Greg Smith, Director of Emergency Management, Medina General Hospital; Lieutenant Joshua Swindell, Post Commander, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Joyce Teodecki, Litchfield Township Fire Chief.

            The 2008 Heartland Heroes Celebration is a family-oriented, buffet brunch from noon to 3 p.m., Sunday, May 4, at the Weymouth Country Club ballroom, 3946 Weymouth Road, Medina Township.  The event will feature a champagne brunch buffet, hero award presentations, silent and verbal auctions, and walk-around magic and balloon animals.

            If you would like to preview and bid on the auction items before the event, log on to www.arc.neofillbids.com.

            Little Hero Sponsor is Westfield Bank, and Hero Partner Sponsors are Discount Drug Mart; Dorman-Farrell, LLC; First Energy Foundation; Medina General Hospital; Mehco Custom Printing and Weymouth Country Club.  Media sponsors are The Gazette and The Medina County Women’s Journal.

            Come spend the afternoon with a hero, and give your children the opportunity to meet a real-live hero from their own community.  Ticket prices are $40 for adults and $15 for children 12 and younger.  They can be purchased at the American Red Cross, 704 N. Court St., in person, or by phone at 330-723-4565 with cash, check Visa or MasterCard.  All proceeds will help provide critically needed funds to help Medina County families prevent, prepare for and cope with emergencies.  For more information, call 330-723-4565 or toll free 1-877-441-4565, email bkilchenman@medinaredcross.org. or visit the Red Cross Web site at www.medinaredcross.org.