United Way of the Midlands Blog

Ed Mullins of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP has been named the 2011 Alyce Kemp DeWitt award winner. The award recognizes a volunteer whose creativity and passion have made an extraordinary impact on United Way of the Midlands. Mullins will be recognized along with seven other volunteers or groups at EdVenture Children’s Museum on Thursday, April 19.

Every year United Way of the Midlands recognizes outstanding volunteerism throughout the community by awarding groups and individuals who during the previous year have exemplified what it means to give back to the community. Eight awards are given out in three different categories, Community Impact, LIVE UNITED and the Alyce Kemp DeWitt award.

The Alyce Kemp DeWitt award is United Way’s most prestigious award for long-term service to the organization and community. In order to be eligible, an Alyce Kemp DeWitt Award winner must have worked with United Way for a minimum of four years and made a measurable impact on the organization.

This year’s recipient is Ed Mullins, who has spent his career addressing human service issues and community needs both financially and with his time serving on boards, volunteering, or soliciting others into service and giving. Mullins is of counsel to Nelson Mullins, which has over 180 donors to United Way as well as 58 leadership givers. Mullins has a long history of board service, having served on the boards of the American Red Cross – SC Region, the Columbia Area Mental Health Association, the Richland Sertoma Club, the March of Dimes Walk, and the S.C. Mental Health Association.  He is currently on the board of directors of the South Carolina Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics.

The United Way of the Midlands LIVE UNITED Award recipient is a volunteer that has dedicated herself to service throughout the year and helped promote the spirit of volunteering back into the Midlands through service to United Way of the Midlands. Winners are submitted and chosen by United Way and our certified partner agencies.

United Way of the Midlands is proud to present this year’s LIVE UNITED award to Shannon Flynn for her hard work to Access to the Arts, a program that began in September 2011, which allows families who receive food assistance through the Department of Social Services to enjoy local cultural events for $1.

The United Way of the Midlands Community Impact Award recipients are a person or group that have demonstrated a commitment to volunteering and made an impact to causes, programs or projects that support human service needs in the Midlands. Award recipients are volunteers with United Way of the Midlands’ Certified Partner Agencies

The 2011 Community Impact Award recipients are the University of South Carolina, nominated by Harvest Hope Food Bank; Sarah Moran, nominated by Sexual Trauma Services of the Midlands; I AM WOMAN Community Health Workers, nominated by Columbia Urban League; and The Dickerson Center for Children Fun(d)raisers, nominated by The Dickerson Center for Children.

For more information about the volunteer awards or the ceremony, contact Bridgett Molony at 803-758-6987 or bmolony@uway.org.

United Way of the Midlands Palmetto Society is proud to announce that this year’s Humanitarian of the Year is John D. Baker.

John D. Baker

For this year’s award winner, giving back runs in the family. John D. Baker’s father, David, chaired the Columbia United Committees Fund Drive (the predecessor to the United Way). Shortly after attending a ceremony honoring his father, John got involved with March of Dimes, which he continues his involvement with to this day. In fact, he was awarded Elaine Whitelaw award, the highest honor ever bestowed on a March of Dimes volunteer at the March of Dimes National Volunteer Leadership conference.

John was one of the first supporters of the new Chabad Labovitch movement, which now runs a successful Jewish Day School in Columbia. He also served on the Richland County Public Library Board of Trustees, and after his chairmanship it was named Library of the Year in 2001 by the American Library Association. In 2000, John received the Trustee of the Year award given by the SC Association of Public Library Administrators. Later, John and his family helped bring Maurice Sendak, best known for Where the Wild Things Are, to the library.

John has been very involved in the United Way of the Midlands initiatives by helping to create funding for the Early Childhood Initiative, Vital Connections. He also formed Step Into Reading to raise money for books and put them into the hands of needy children. For all of his work with this program, John accepted the Corporate Citizen of the Year award from the Carolina’s chapter of Volunteers of America in 2001.

His achievements don’t stop there. The State of Israel Bonds in Columbia honored John in 2002 with the State of Israel’s Ben Gurion award for his years of service. John was also awarded the State’s highest honor, The Order of the Palmetto, by Gov. James Hodges. In addition, John received the Philanthropist of the Year award given by the state chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Without a doubt, John D. Baker is deserving of this year’s Humanitarian of the Year award. He is currently married to the former Marcie Stern, of Columbia, and they have one child, Gabrielle, who is a junior at George Washington University.

Invitations to the Humanitarian of the Year Awards dinner have been mailed to our Palmetto Society and other donors. For more information about this event, click here.