AWARD PURPOSE
Since the Foundation began, there has been a need and a desire to recognize those individuals who have had a major impact on the Foundation’s mission. It took us a while but we think the award we found is the perfect way
1.
to be relevant to what we are about,
2.to call to mind the outdoors, and
3.to signify the importance of the connection between people helping others.
The French term “Belay” means “to hold fast.” The term “On Belay” is used by climbing/rappelling/rescue teams to signal when the climber/rescuer is totally controlled by the other member(s) handling the rope. It is a significant connection amongst the team members based on the total communication, confidence and trust they must have in each other in order to be successful. This is the same connection that Outdoor Experiential Educator (OEE) leaders make with their students when they are successful. Those who have been recognized have made such a connection with the foundation.
AWARD RECIPIENTS
In Recognition of Your Continued Support and Guidance of the Foundation and its Mission.
Tom, Director of the Connecticut Wilderness School, planted the idea of the Foundation. It was his encouragement to start the foundation as the answer to how the family could help. From the very beginning, he surprised us in his expressed level of confidence in us and in what we could accomplish, not just to support CWS but he knew we could reach a wider market.
In Recognition of Your Efforts Creating the Jason William Hunt Leadership Training Center
As Anderson Park Director, Molly was the moving factor in creating Jason’s Center. From our first talk she has been 100% behind our mission. She is very progressive, highly motivated and has the great ability not only to vision but to ask the what if questions. Although she has moved on Molly continues to support the mission
In Recognition of Your Efforts Creating The Tween-Teen Program
Jean is a Counselor in our local Forest Hills School District. She read about the opening of Jason’s Center and asked if it could help her kids make the sometimes awkward and difficult transition from elementary to middle school. Thus began the Tween-Teen Program which, in its second year, won an Award of Excellence from the Ohio Park & Recreation Commission. The Center started with one school and then grew to include all the middle schools in the district and to a few county social agencies.
In Recognition of Your Efforts Creating the Jason W. Hunt Memorial Challenge
Jason, Outing Club Advisor at Warren Wilson College and a climbing buddy of Jason, began the Jason W. Hunt Memorial Challenge. It is a day of three member teams, comprised of students, faculty, staff, and friends of Jason, competing in various outdoor activities throughout the campus woods, fields, and creeks, near Asheville, NC. More importantly, it gives us the chance to talk to students about OEE and how they can make a difference working in the outdoors helping kids.
In Recognition of Your Efforts to Enhance the Lives of Youth At-Risk
Tom & Diane and their foundation made it possible for us to expand into the wider market. We now have the ability to have a positive impact on a life at-risk from places we never dreamed about servicing. We would never have guessed that we would provide funds for a child in Michigan to be able to attend a therapeutic camp in Arizona or to train an outdoor educator in Florida.
In Recognition of Your Efforts Creating Jason's DayTM Chili Cookoff of Southwest Ohio
Gail & Gumby are chili-heads beyond compare. When first approached to help us start a chili cookoff Gail was bit reluctant as, unbeknownst to us, she was recuperating from a very serious and freak accident. Yet after visiting the website she and Bill became unstoppable and made the day a great success.
In Recognition of Your Efforts on Behalf of the Jason William Hunt Foundation
Rob, whom we met during our 2006 motorcycle ride is a Williamsburg School Board member. Because he was curious if Jason’s Center could help his students both he and his middle school principal toured the center and decided to use it in the fall of 2007. Then the Park Board canceled the program. Unfazed, Rob was so convinced about our mission that he offered and ran a golf outing for the foundation on Columbus Day, Oct. 8th, 2007. Rob has made plans for Columbus Day, 2008. When given his award Rob had flashbacks to his days as a paratrooper and what “On Belay” meant to his team’s survival.
In Recognition of Your Efforts to Allow JWHF To Think Outside the Fundraising Box
As a co-owner of the Wicked Weeds Brewing Company of Asheville, NC, Rick receives multiple request for fundraising support on daily basis.While he accepts all that he can because, in his words,"it is the right thing to do," he often suggests a different approach. When he offered to brew JWHF a beer, sell it for 30 days and then donate based on sales PLUS told us to find other breweries in town, it set the stage for our Therapeutic Wilderness Awareness Month Campaign.
