The Bainbridge Community Foundation has named Sally Santana, a Port Orchard resident and an advocate for the homeless, and the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island, with the 2010 C. Keith Birkenfeld Humanitarian and Community Philanthropy awards, respectively.
The foundation, a nonprofit established in 2001 to encourage philanthropy, will present the awards at its annual ceremony on Oct. 16 at IslandWood.
The Birkenfeld award is given annually to a Kitsap County resident who “exemplifies the best in volunteer service, leadership and commitment to the community.”
According to a BCF statement: “Sally’s tireless and remarkable efforts on behalf of the hungry and homeless are well known across Kitsap County. Her involvement with over a dozen organizations has touched thousands of people in our community.”
The award includes a $25,000 grant-making opportunity, which Santana will announce at the awards ceremony.
“I am exceedingly grateful to the BCF for this recognition because the financial gift that comes with it will keep my recipient functioning for the next year,” Santa said. “I hope it will draw attention to the needs of our ever increasing number of homeless. I’m just a frontman, if you will, of a very large band of paid and unpaid individuals that work diligently to end homelessness.”
The foundation honored the Rotary Club for its “generous programs and activities, the most visible being the Rotary Auction and Rummage Sale held each June.” The long-running event donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to the community each year.
Rotary Club President Vicki Browning said in a statement: “Rotary is an international service organization made up of volunteers who want to make the world a better place. The service award being bestowed on the Rotary Club of Bainbridge Island by the Bainbridge Community Foundation is an honor because it indicates we really are doing what it takes to make our community a better place. We so appreciate the recognition, but most important is our sense of pride that we are able to make a difference.”
Last year’s BCF recipients were Ed Kushner (humanitarian) and Steve and Harriet Davis (philanthropy), all residents of Bainbridge Island.
