Easter Seals-Goodwill names Great Falls Symphony community partner of the year

Great Falls Tribune

Easter Seals-Goodwill Nothern Rocky Mountain clients enjoy two special concerts each year by the Great Falls Symphony, which include not only great performances but also a chance to play each instrument, learn the role of the instruments in the symphony and participate during the performance. This year the Great Falls Symphony was named the Easter Seals-Goodwill Community Partner of the Year at the organization's annual awards banquet July 21.

Easter Seals/Goodwill client Kristen Davies dances with Belinda Brugman, an organization employees, during a special performance of the Great Falls Symphony.

“Our clients enjoy when the Symphony performs. They get up and dance, clap and sing along to the music,” stated Dale Weaselhead, floor supervisor with Easter Seals-Goodwill.

Hillary Rose from the Great Falls Symphony and Angela Costley from the Youth Orchestra Education Program, accepted the Community Partner Award from Easter Seals/Goodwill.

Mary and Mitch Guhl received the Family Member Award. The Guhls volunteering their time and effort for dances. They are always willing to come and DJ for Easter Seals-Goodwill events.

“They have entertained us all and the clients enjoy them coming,” said Shandon Christopherson, floor supervisor with Easter Seals-Goodwill. “Whenever there is a holiday or an event coming up, most clients request the Guhl’s to DJ for us. They know a lot of our clients and know the type of music they listen to and enjoy."

Mark Sherman from Easter Seals-Goodwill finance department received the SPURS Award, Easter Seals-Goodwill’s most prestigious award honoring employees who directly contribute to the success of Easter Seals-Goodwill.

Mark Sherman was presented with the Easter Seals/Goodwill SPURS Award.

Sherman embraces the organization's mission and is constantly looking for ways to increase his knowledge of its services and to enhance communication with staff in other areas, whether this means an unscheduled trip to a location or seminar, or through one-on-one meetings to discuss issues, his nominator wrote.

“You can tell that (Sherman) care(s) about the organization, which helps when (he) is delivering news that we don’t really want to hear,” his nomination continued.

Four Easter Seals-Goodwill program participants from Great Falls, Stephanie Rous, Susie Berg, Mary Ann Peters and Brett Ingram, were honored for making significant progress toward reaching milestones during 2017.

April Sliwoski from Goodwill retail services was honored with the Support Staff award for her extraordinary support for the Goodwill stores in the areas of recycling and new goods.

Katie Fish from finance was honored with the Rising Star award for coming out of the gates strong and showing great promise after working at Easter Seals-Goodwill only for a short time.

The Information Technology Department was honored with the Innovation award for coming up with innovative and cost-effective ways to keep up with the organization’s technological needs.

Individuals from Butte, Missoula and Bozeman were also honored at the event.

Easter Seals-Goodwill Northern Rocky Mountain Inc. is a non-profit human services organization that touches the lives of over 24,300 people in more than 39 programs in 40 locations across Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and Utah. Its staff of almost 1,000 professionals is dedicated to creating opportunities that change lives.