Cherri Lolley (left) receives Athena Award from Girls Inc. CEO Tish Correa-Osborne

By Rich Suwanski
Published: Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Messenger-Inquirer

Cherri Stone Lolley was named the 14th Athena Award winner Tuesday afternoon at the RiverPark Center.

The event was presented by Girls Incorporated and the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce.

Lolley had a 17-year career in nursing before opening her first business in Owensboro, Massage and Wellness. When she couldn’t find special medical equipment for her daughter Emily, who resides at Wendell Foster’s Center for Developmental Disabilities, she opened CherriCare Medical Equipment and Supplies.

Last year, she founded another business, Beautiful You, a specialty store that helps women experiencing health and image issues due to their battles with cancer.

“My parents taught me that we are put on this earth to help one another through the journey of life,” Lolley said.

The Athena Award honors a person in the community who has attained and personifies the highest level of professional excellence in their profession, has devoted time and energy to the community in a meaningful way and has opened doors of opportunity for women.

Born the daughter of a missionary, Lolley grew up in Malawi, Africa and saw the difficulties women had in a poor country. Her goal was to work to empower women. She has contracted for products for her shop made by women in eastern Kentucky and Third World countries.

“Anytime you bring up her name, people are overwhelmed,” said Tish Correa Osborne, Girls Incorporated CEO. “We’re blown away by the passion she has for her work and for people.

“She cares and makes a difference. Her work didn’t stop here. She found ways to extend her reach by going into other countries. What a difference she makes in providing equipment, supplies and resources.”

Gov. Steve Beshear appointed her to the Kentucky Commission on Services and Supports for Individuals with Mental Retardation and Other Developmental Disabilities.

Lolley lobbied for healthcare reform and serves on the Girls Incorporated board of directors. She is active with CASA and Wendell Foster’s.

“Because of geography, women have moved far apart and not been able to teach one another,” Lolley said. “You have to adopt mothers and grandmothers in other areas to mentor young ladies and teach them mothering skills. It doesn’t mean you have to have a baby, just care for other people, and help one another because we all need different levels of help at different times in our life.”

The luncheon’s keynote speaker was Mary Claire O’Neal, a communication consultant, speaker, certified coach and author from Lexington. She spoke about being painfully shy as a youngster, to the point of hiding in her room when visitors came to her home. Recognizing her problem, she took an acting class to challenge her fear.

She went on to an acting career and now serves on the board of directors of the National Speakers Association/Kentucky.

Other Athena Award nominees were Deborah Crowe, Deborah Fillman, Cathy Foster, Kelly Morris, Helen Mountjoy, Suzanne Northern Blazar, Alma Randolph, Janet Reid, Pam Smith Wright, Susie Tyler and Angela Woosley.

Girls Inc. member Savannah Estes was also honored as Southern Region Teen Volunteer of the Year.   And, last but certainly not least, trustee Sue Napper was named Adult Organizational Volunteer of the Year for her countless years of service to the Athena Awards program. 

Congratulations to all!!!

By Rich Suwanski
Published: Friday, March 11, 2011 12:08 AM CST
Messenger-Inquirer

Patti Rayburn, the former director of the Owensboro Housing Authority, was named the recipient of the Athena Award at the 13th annual award luncheon presented by the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce and Girls Incorporated Thursday at the RiverPark Center.

Rayburn served as the Housing Authority’s director for 21 years, retiring in 2002, and was instrumental in developing a partnership between that organization and OASIS, which resulted in the construction of a residential spouse abuse/substance abuse treatment center.

Rayburn also entered into collaboration with Audubon Area Community Services, the Cliff Hagan Boys and Girls Club, and Girls Incorporated. They provided services and facilities to housing residents and the community, including three child care centers, the Martel Wightman Youth Center that houses the Boys and Girls Club and Girls Incorporated youth development programs in Rolling Heights.

“Through her efforts and dedication, she has touched this community far beyond what words can describe,” said Tish Correa-Osborne, the Girls Incorporated CEO. “She could be a force to reckon with as she fought to improve the lives and opportunities for those she tirelessly served. But her heart was even larger. She dared people to dream, to find a better way. She changed lives and we are all better because of her.”

Rayburn was unable to attend because of illness. Rayburn’s lifelong friend Paddy Miller accepted the award for her.

“She is a remarkable and brilliant gal,” Miller said. “She did so much for the Housing Authority and it continues.

“When I was working closely with her as an educator, she decided that the children living in the Housing Authority should all go to DisneyWorld, and she made it happen for 60 kids. This is just one example of the things that Patti did that went above and beyond the grants and involvement with her residents. She loved her work, and she will love this (award).”

Correa-Osborne said Rayburn transformed the local public housing system into a safe, secure and well-maintained community for many families. She directed an agency that managed 580 housing units.

“She championed opportunities to help those she served help themselves,” Correa-Osborne said. “She understood that women and families do not grow stronger as a result of being handed things, or told what to do or think. She formed housing authority resident councils to give families a voice and opportunities to create the change they wished to see or have.”

The criteria used to select the Athena Award recipient includes “someone in the community who has attained and personifies the highest level of professional excellence in their profession, has devoted time and energy to the community in a meaningful way and has opened doors of opportunity for women.”

The event’s keynote speaker was Marisa Rivera-Albert, president of Mpowerment Works, a consulting firm to impact global change, particularly for women.

“If we start (teaching girls) at an early age, we can truly affect successful results for creating an equal and fair society,” Rivera-Albert said. “I just got back from Kenya and Rwanda, and it doesn’t matter where you are on the globe, women and girls want the same things. We want access to opportunity. We want a world without violence. We want the opportunity to be everything we can be. We want the opportunity to lead.”

21 October 2010 – Messenger-Inquirer
By Dariush Shafa

Faith Kunihira recalls a childhood growing up in a grassthatched hut in the African nation of Uganda, walking hours to school or to fetch water for the home, and tells people that when she was growing up her family was so poor, “if you cast me to the dogs they would not eat me.”

On Wednesday, Kunihira was the guest of honor at Girls Inc. and told a group of young girls about how now, she is rich.

It’s not what’s in her pocketbook, she said. It’s what she does and the difference she makes for others.

Kunihira is the founder and executive director of Bringing Hope to the Family, an organization based in Uganda that provides services for needy children in that country. The organization runs an orphanage and provides medical care for children in need, among other services.

Kunihira’s story is one of hard-earned success. She got an education and became an accountant in Uganda’s secondlargest city, Jinja, but returned home because of the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS in her country and the children left behind by that disease.

When she went back to her home village, she said, she had $3 in her pocket and no savings, having spent everything to help her younger siblings get educated also.

“My heart was moved by compassion because of the suffering children in my village were going through,” Kunihira said. “My thrill was not that I had money. It was that I had knowledge.”

Even today, Kunihira said, she still solves problems in the same order as she did when she started her mission 10 years ago. The first problems to be solved are the cheapest.

“You don’t need money to hug people. I can comfort. These things do not require money,” Kunihira said.

Kunihira’s efforts have had great success. Today, 2,500 children are cared for through her organization in Uganda.

In her village, her organization funds an orphanage that cares for about 70 children. The children have food, an education and shelter in a homelike setting.

“I feel blessed and privileged to be able to take care of them,” Kunihira said.

“Each of the 70 stories are written in my heart and they stay in my memory.”

Kunihira is visiting Owensboro because this community has already made steps to help hers, despite the distance.

She is president of the Rotary Club in her own community and Owensboro’s Rotary Club is taking part in supporting projects in Kunihira’s village of Kaihura to increase access to clean water.

But Kunihira’s visit to Girls Inc. was to tell her story and hopefully provide a little inspiration to the young women and girls there.

“There’s so many incredible people out there that not enough people get to hear about,” said Tish Correa-Osborne, CEO of Girls Inc. “They care and make a big difference.”

Correa-Osborne said Kunihira is one of those and by sharing her experiences, she can help encourage the girls helped by their organization locally.

“They see how powerful women can be,” Correa-Osborne said. “She’s a very real person who came from some tough circumstances.”