KCP bestows honors

Reno Unge, Sarah Brown named volunteers of year; Kutztown Strong named as organization of year

Reno Unger and Sarah Brown were cited as Kutztown Community Partnership’s volunteers of the year and Kutztown Strong was recognized as organization of the year at KCP’s annual meeting in Trinity Lutheran Church, Kutztown, on Feb. 16.

The annual Kutztown community meeting takes place each year as the committees and the community come together to recognize the achievements of the

past year and outline plans for the future. KCP president Jerry Schearer and chairman of the organization committee, Matt Link, awarded each of the recipients.

Unger has been heavily involved in the branding, publications and publicity for the organization for the past three years and is retired from Kutztown University as Public Relations Director and Professor of Public Relations. He is also an active member of Kutztown Strong and the Kutztown Rotary Club.

Brown was given management responsibilities for the Kutztown Pool concession stand when KCP took over its administration last summer. She invested seven days a week overseeing operations from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Kutztown Strong was founded to combat the seductive power of substance abuse among young people in response to the recent upsurge of deaths due to drugs in the Kutztown and Topton areas.

KCP’s mission is to forge good communication and foster mutual support among the major elements of the Kutztown community: its businesses, schools, churches and university.

The first recipient of the organization award was the Kutztown Bicentennial Committee. Previous recipients of the volunteer of the year award were Kutztown residents Diane Piscitelli and Sandra Green.