Welcome to the
2024
Schedule of the Evening
Start of Ceremonies
Welcome and Introduction | Kendallee Walker, Reaching Out Now, Inc
Pledge of Allegiance | Marie Coffron, YES Leadership Program
Opening Remarks | Joe and Samantha Barber, Reaching Out Now, Inc
Welcome Leadership Dialogue
Cheyenne Bailey & Iris Shrader, YES Leadership Program
Dinner Service
Prayer | Kaleb Smith, YES Program
Catering | DAH Cuisines
Mint-Feta Watermelon Salad
Smothered Pulled Sage Turkey
Smoked Beef Sausage Chickpea Salad
Dirty Rice & Peas
5-Hour Slow Cooked Collard Greens
Special Presentation Harlee Anne Hire Athletic Scholarship
Toby Hire, Mother of Harlee Anne Hire and Samantha Barber, Reaching Out Now, Inc.
Community Awards
First Responder | Deputy Omar Fuentes
Sina May, Reaching Out Now, Inc. and Dr. Michelle Edwards, Warren County High School
Female Entrepeneur | Shelly Cook
Male Entrepeneur | Mike McCool
Candace Davenport and Joe Barber, Reaching Out Now, Inc. and Landyn Shrader, YES Leadership Program
Youth Speaker
Landyn Shrader, YES Leadership Program
Community Awards
Service Above Self | Christa Shiflett
Marlena Conner, Reaching Out Now, Inc. and Adisyn Waters, YES Leadership Program
Special Presentation | Phoenix Project
Avery Harper, Executive Director Phoenix Project
Samantha Barber and Sina May, Reaching Out Now, Inc.
Keynote
Student of the Year, Isabel Duran, YES Leadership Program
Lillian Sloane Legacy Award
Donna Rae Hinze
Samantha Barber and Christie Sibert, Reaching Out Now, Inc. and the Smith/Sloane Family
Youth Volunteer and Volunteer of the Year Awards
Kendallee Walker and Reaching Out Now Team
Safe At Home Awards
Kendallee Walker and the Hire Family
Certificate Presentations
Teketia Smith and Marlena Connor, Reaching Out Now, Inc.
Honorees
First Responder | Deputy Omar Fuentes
Our First Responder honoree is an individual who serves in a first responder capacity (fire, medical, law enforcement) and has gone above and beyond in this role and their greater role as a mentor and advocate for those they serve. This year’s awardee is Warren County High School SRO, Deputy Omar Fuentes.
Deputy Fuentes began his career in Warren County as a School Resource Officer in 2020 where he worked with students at LFK Elementary and Skyline Middle School. In 2021, he became the SRO for Warren County High School. Deputy. Fuentes serves as a mentor to students, a coach to not only football players, but basketball, and baseball spanning three seasons of volunteering after his assigned duty time. He is certified in crisis intervention, a member of the Warren County bike patrol team, and a member of the Warren County honor guard team.
Prior to coming to Warren County, he began his career in law enforcement as a Deputy with Arlington County Sheriff’s Office in 2011. He is a native New Yorker, and received his Bachelor of Arts in Electrical Engineering from the New York Institute of Technology. He is married and has three children, with one entering college in the fall.
Female Entrepeneur | Shelly Cook
This award goes to a woman in our community, who works tirelessly in building her business while also supporting those around them.
With not much more than a dream in her heart, a few dollars in her pocket, and a divinely inspired vision for the future, Shelly built her own construction company in 1994 to serve her community in a meaningful way. Servants Hands Construction is the product of Shelly’s years of hard work, constant self-instruction, and dedication to service.
Shelly is a lifetime resident of Warren County with a family heritage that runs deep. Her grandfather, Arthur Burke, helped develop and build Skyline Drive. Around the 1960’s, Arthur had purchased land that included 154 parcels. To honor his legacy, Shelly revitalized the project, Junewood Estates, and has begun developing the land into a riverfront community.
Shelly had hit a couple of rough patches along the way. In the early 2000’s, Shelly’s childhood sweetheart, husband, and father to her children, passed away in a tragic accident. Shelly was left with a small amount of money to take care of herself and her son, Jeremy. With little to her name, Shelly took a chance on herself.
Taking everything she had, Shelly invested in building an assisted living facility, Loving Arms Assisted Living. After filling the facility within 6 months, Shelly began to expand the facility to include more beds for those in need, expanding it by 5500 square feet in 2006. In 2015, she sold the facility for nearly $15 million.
During those years, Shelly wasn’t just building and expanding an assisted living facility. She also continued her education and achieved several accomplishments. First, she became a Registered Nurse through Shenandoah University to help take care of her family. In 2003, she got her Class A Contractor’s License to continue building and expanding her knowledge of properties. In 2011, Shelly started the Loaves and Fishes Food Pantry and created software to help find people in need. Today, Loaves and Fishes serves over 300 people a week. In late 2019, Shelly gained access to her grandfather’s land and by March of 2020, she had commissioned her construction company, Servants Hands Construction, to begin developing and building the land.
Male Entrepeneur | Mike McCool
This award goes to a man in our community, who works tirelessly in building their business while also supporting those around them.
Mike McCool is the Publisher of Royal Examiner, a division of National Media Services Inc., providing news and information for Front Royal and Warren County, Virginia, since 2016. With over 44 years as President of National Media Services Inc., Mike has a rich background in media and recording engineering, developed during his service with the USAF Band. He is actively involved in numerous community organizations, focusing on economic development, supporting local businesses, and enhancing community betterment. Mike’s leadership and dedication make him a key figure in promoting local business and community development.
Service Above Self | Christa Shiflett
The Service Above Self award goes out to an individual who puts their time and talents into serving others, oftentimes even before their own needs. This year the honor goes to Christa Shiflett, the Executive Director of Warren Coalition.
Christa has served as Executive Director of the Warren Coalition for over 12 years. She is a Certified Trauma Professional, a Certified Trauma Informed trainer and Trauma Supportive trainer and ACEs Interface Trainer for Virginia. She is also a certified anger management and anxiety specialist with the court system who works as RSW Regional Jail a couple of days a week. She is a certified Getting Relationships Right trainer.
Christa graduated from the College of William and Mary with a Bachelor’s degree in Government and Economics. She also earned a Master’s degree in Education from James Madison University.
Lillian Sloane Legacy | Donna Rae Hinze
The Lillian Slone Legacy Award goes out to an individual who has dedicated their lifetime to change, support, and make our community a better place. The inaugural awardee of this award is Donna Rae Hinze, a retired teacher who has been working with our children and broader community for over 30 years.
Donna is a retired teacher with Warren County Public Schools. She taught for 30 years, mostly in kindergarten. She absolutely loves teaching and spent as much time loving and respecting the students as giving them an education. As she continued her career, she stepped out into projects in the community.
Donna has always been active in her church/faith community. So many needs started to surface and ways to help turned into so many blessings. She is a part of Warren Charge Food Bank which started before Covid and is still going strong. As part of her church missions, she was given the opportunity to disperse funds to the community through an anonymous angel donor. This opportunity has turned out to be a blessing not only to the community, but to those involved in the giving.
Leadership Students
Cheyenne Bailey
Marie Coffron
Cody Davis
Kamyia Dorsey
Trinity Diamond
Isabel Duran
Amirah Porter
Syre Norris
Heaven Mathews
Paiselee Lou Mathews
Mia Ross
Landyn Shrader
Iris Shrader
Kaleb Smith
Adisyn Waters
Aniyah Waters
Sponsors
Thank you for each of our event sponsors for helping bring this beautiful evening together. We are so appreciative of your time and energy given in supporting our communities.
DAH Cuisines
The George Washington Hotel
The Ivy Chest Floral and Decor
Memories Engraving Plus
ReWed Bridal
Summit Events
Toy Box Studios
Donate
An anonymous donor has offered a $6,000 matching donation for Leadership and $4,000 matching for the Student Union for any donations made during tonight’s program.
Please consider donating if you are able.
Special Recognition
Lillian Sloane
Born and raised in Linden, VA, Lillian grew up in a loving home with her parents, two sisters and an older brother. You guessed it, “she was the youngest.”
She attended a one room elementary school where she spent a lot of time helping the underclass members and listening to upper class member’s classes. She went on to attend Manassas Industrial High School in Manassas, VA. This was a boarding school for her because she lived too far out to commute.
Upon completing high school, Lillian attended Virginia State College graduating in the class of 1948.
She went on to start her teaching career in the fall of that year. She completed a total of 32 years in Warren County and 5 years in Fauquier County for a total of 37 years.
Lillian is a mother of two daughters, Sheila Smith (Robert), Debra Beasley (Ron), Grands Devin (Teketia), Cori (Rodney), Chase, Linden, Great grands, Jadelyn, Will and Kaleb and a Widow of Mr. Pete for 21 years.
Her service to the community during the years includes: Charter member of the Blue Ridge Arts Council, Beautification Club of Front Royal, Board of Zoning Appeals for 17 years for the Town of Front Royal, Director of Osage Street playground, and member of the Salvation Army Board. She is currently a member of Front Royal United Methodist Church, a Diamond member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a Lay speaker at the United Methodist Church.
Harlee Anne Hire
Harlee Anne Hire “Hah” entered fully into the presence of our Lord on Wednesday, May 11, 2022. Harlee was born August 31, 2005 in Ridgecrest, CA; she was only 16. In 2014 Harlee, her parents (Brian & Toby) and siblings (Madelynn, Alexa & Otto) made Front Royal, VA, their home.
It did not matter how old Harlee was or which coast she was on, her laughter, smile and antics were sure to catch your attention. Her contagious smile and whole body laughs brought joy to those around her.
Harlee started playing softball shortly after moving to VA. She played for Little League, Fire, Unity, and Skyline High School. She loved the game so much that she was willing and could play almost every position on the field very well . Harlee’s favorite positions to play were catcher and shortstop.
Harlee managed to letter in tennis her freshman year at Skyline High School. This only took place because of a “contract” she made with her Dad to get a nose ring. Meeting the almost impossible demands of this contract is just one example of Harlee’s tenacity. This served her well on and off the field. She did get the nose ring.
Harlee was a certified welder. After completing welding at Blue Ridge Technical Center, she took her certification test. She loved welding. It was definitely the highlight of her day, if she wasn’t playing softball. She even helped fabricate and weld a vehicle for the Shenandoah Valley Electric Grand Prix with the BRTC team. She expected welding would become her career as well as her passion.
Harlee Anne volunteered with multiple organizations. Her favorites were Reaching Out Now and Abundant Life Church. Harlee began helping deliver meals with Reaching Out Now even before she had her driver’s permit. She also helped RON with multiple events and was in their Girl of Destiny Leadership Program. At Abundant Life, her favorite way to volunteer was to help with child care. She also attended CRAVE student ministry at Abundant Life Church in Stephens City.
Hah loved a good time: random dance parties, singing at the top of her lungs, playing in the rain, mud or snow. You knew how competitive she was and how big of a heart she had for littles if you ever played kickball or wiffle ball with her in a driveway, on a street or at The Farm. She liked her room to be clean and everything to look pretty. She was an athlete to the core. Harlee has participated in organized leagues of flag football, tackle football, soccer, cheer and of course softball.
Harlee loved working at both Abundant Life Day Care and Checkers. She loved to travel and any adventure. She loved smiles and hugs and made sure to include as many people in her “good time” as possible.
Harlee is missed beyond measure. What comfort we find is found in knowing she is seated with Jesus and we will see her in eternity. #doinit4uhah
Thank you for joining us!
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