The Fairmont State Foundation, Inc. has announced the 2009 SOARing Award and Florence Nightingale Award recipients.

SOARing Awards were presented May 8 at the Fairmont State University Academic Awards Celebration to William and Shirley Fleming and, posthumously, to Grace Oliverio and Kenneth "Mike" Birmingham. Each year these awards are presented to donors who uphold and foster the core values of scholarship, opportunity, achievement and responsibility.

William and Shirley Fleming have generously endowed three scholarships--the Carolyn Coakley-Hickerson Memorial Scholarship Fund for Language and Literature, the Nola A. Matthew Nursing and Allied Health Administration Endowed Scholarship and the Nola A. Matthew Endowed Scholarship for West Virginia students exhibiting financial need. The Flemings have been actively involved with FSU for many years and have come to be recognized as pillars of the campus community.

"We are very grateful for partners like the Flemings who have generously given to Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College. The scholarships in which they have participated and established are making a significant difference in education opportunities for our students. It is a pleasure working with William and Shirley Fleming in advancing our institutions through their philanthropy," said Keith Foster, Director of Major Gifts.

Grace Oliverio and Kenneth "Mike" Birmingham were selected as posthumous recipients of the SOARing Award. They benevolently made provisions in their estate for the Grace Oliverio and Kenneth "Mike" Birmingham Endowed Football Scholarship, a scholarship that will directly impact the educational experience of FSU student-athletes. Both were acclaimed coaches in Western Pennsylvania, and their passion for athletics and education inspired the endowment.

At the awards celebration, Kay Bishirjian received the honor on behalf of her late sister and brother-in-law.

 "Thank you very much for honoring this scholarship and helping us honor our dear sister Grace and her husband, Mike. We dearly miss them, and the scholarship they have established through their estate will perpetually help young student-athletes. This scholarship will keep Grace and Mike's memory alive in all our hearts and in the school they loved, Fairmont State University," Bishirjian said.

The Pollastrini family received the 2009 Florence Nightingale Award at the May 14 Nursing Pinning Ceremony. This honor is bestowed upon donors who embody the spirit and passion of Florence Nightingale.

The Pollastrini family, through their generosity and foresight, established the Andee Pollastrini Scholarship in honor of the late Andee Pollastrini, who lost her life to domestic violence. The scholarship benefits non-traditional nursing students and promotes domestic violence awareness across campus.

"Thank you so very much for honoring this scholarship and the memory of our beloved daughter and sister, Andee. We are appreciative of the Fairmont State Foundation, Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College for helping us establish this scholarship in Andee's memory. Her dream of helping people through the nursing profession is kept alive through this scholarship, as is her story and the fight against domestic violence. We, her family, are forever grateful and are blessed to be able to help in some way," said Linda Pollastrini, mother of the late Andee Pollastrini. 

The mission of the Fairmont State Foundation, Inc. is to support, through ethical stewardship, the missions of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College. The Foundation will identify, establish and cultivate meaningful relationships with Fairmont State and Pierpont alumni, as well as potential and existing funding constituencies, to meet contributor needs while securing funds and supporters for priority objectives identified by the Boards of Governors.

 

Pictured from left to right are Allen Pollastrini, Sr.; Allen Pollastrini, Jr.; Amber Pollastrini; Linda Pollastrini; Bill Angel; Crystal Alkire and Sharon Boni.

 

Pictured from left to right are Maria Spatafore, Dorothy Oliverio, Peter Clyde Papadokas, Kathryn Bishirjian, Louis Spatafore, Madeline Oliverio and Mary Dorezo.