Reconocimiento Award 2006

Presentation Speech for Elizabeth "Libby" Adessa, Leadership Service Award.

Presenter: Rosemary Villarubia- Leadership Service Award 2005

"I am thrilled to be presenting this year Leadership Service Award.  As a past recipient of this award I know exactly how our recipient feels to be receiving it.  This year’s Leadership Service Award recipient is what most of us will call a newcomer to our community.  She came to our Rochester to attend RIT in 2000, later transferring over to St. John Fisher College where she graduated in 2005 earning the highest honors of Summa Cum Laude, receiving a degree in Communications/Journalism with a minor in Political Science.

She is the youngest of three.  Her mother of Mexican decent and her father Italian live in Wisconsin.  Her brother lives in Texas and her sister in California.  She has made Rochester her home and we are very blessed to have her.

She has worked at the Salvation Army for over a year and during this time she has accomplished what many do not achieve in a lifetime.  As the Community Relations Coordinator she has handled numerous events quite successfully.  She organized and implemented Project Bundle Up which enabled 300 inner city children (many Hispanic) to shop for warm winter clothing at JCPennys and Kaufmann’s.  She organized a Radio-thon with TV Channel 8 to raise the money for the project.  She coordinated the 2005 Red Kettle Campaign raising a record $615,000.  If this wasn’t enough she was in charge of the 1st Annu1 Civic Breakfast, The Annual Golf Tournament, National Salvation Army Week and raised money for Hope House a 19 bed emergency shelter for women and their children.  She has done all this and still finds time to volunteer with the Heart Association, National MS Society and Hospice Care.

Dr, Warren Bennis once said “Leaders do not command excellence, they build excellence.”  Well if this is true this year’s Leadership Service Award recipient has been truly been building excellence to benefit our entire community.  It is with great honor that I present Latinas Unidas’ 2006 Leadership Service Award to Elizabeth Libby Adessa.  Congratulations!"