Community members honored for philanthropy

Award recipients:

• Nadia Cavner, of Nadia Cavner Group at BancorpSouth, was named Outstanding Philanthropist of the Year;

• Murney Associates Realtors was named Outstanding Corporation of the Year;

• ACR Nally Marketing Group was named Outstanding Small Business of the Year;

• O’Reilly/Wooten Family Foundations was named Outstanding Foundation of the Year;

• Springfield Telephone Pioneers was named Outstanding Philanthropic Organization of the Year;

• Radio station Alice 95.5 was named Outstanding Media Organization of the Year;

• Dr. Nancy O’Reilly, owner of O’Reilly Health and Wellness Services LLC and founder of the WomenSpeak Project, was named Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser of the Year;

• Angelica Owery and Dolly Lassman-Eul were named Oustanding Youths in Philanthropy of the Year; and

• Nancy Fazzino, of United Way of the Ozarks, was named Outstanding Fundraising Executive of the Year.

A panel of local community members and an AFP committee reviewed nominations for the awards and selected the honorees based on charitable giving, community involvement, personal investment in philanthropy as exhibited through volunteer efforts, and service and commitment to improving the community through charitable efforts.

Special posthumous recognition also was given at the event to Mick Denniston, longtime fundraiser and executive of Springfield Little Theatre and Springfield Catholic Schools, and Shae Ruark, longtime fundraiser for Drury University and the Child Advocacy Center. Denniston died in January from injuries sustained in a car accident, and Ruark died of natural causes.