Rich Clark Honored as Nonprofit Executive, Person of the Year

By Keith Laschinger, Vice President of Advancement

The first week of December was quite a week for Rich Clark! On Thursday, December 2, the night LeBron James returned to Quicken Loans Arena, Rich was honored as the nonprofit executive director of the year at the Pillar Award for Community Service event hosted in Westlake. Rich, who was nominated for this honor by board member Margie Flynn, shared this honor with Mary Sue Tanis of Youth Challenge. Others honored at the event included corporate partners Achievement Centers for Children, Ernst & Young, Hyland Software, and A.J. Hyland, who received the Kent Clapp CEO Leadership Award.

A video highlighting the work of Saint Martin, and featuring board chair Nick Howley, provided Rich’s introduction. Upon stepping to the podium, Rich reminded the audience that “there is hope in Cleveland – even after LeBron!”

Hope was also a central theme in Rich’s acceptance speech as the Christ Child Society’s Person of the Year. During his remarks, Rich said:

"Over 80 percent of our students are or will be first generation college students. Our students come from families where the average income is about $30,000 with a family size of four. Many of our students have just one parent in their lives. But we do not define or limit our students by what they might lack. And that’s because they have the one thing that might matter most…and that’s HOPE."

Rich received the Christ Child Society honor at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Cleveland on Saturday, December 4. The honor was made even more special because Rich was introduced by the 2009 Christ Child Society Person of the Year and Saint Martin board member, Don Dailey.

Congratulations to Rich for his well-deserved honors.