2008 Development Awards
Outstanding Philanthropists:
Kenton & Susie Campbell
Kenton and Susie Campbell established the William Lewis and Marie L. Campbell 4-H Fund, WVU Foundation’s first Term of Years Fund, supporting WVU Extension’s 4-H Health Initiative.
The $125,000 donation from the Washington D.C., couple was a tribute to Kenton’s parents and will help improve the health of West Virginia youths by increasing knowledge about health and motivating 4-H’ers and families to try new health habits and improve others. Kenton Campbell is a construction and real estate entrepreneur. Susie is involved with a mentoring project for inner-city Washington, D.C., kids.
William Lewis Campbell, a native of Monroe County, had a lifelong involvement with the artificial insemination of dairy cattle—especially herds in West Virginia and Maryland. Marie was active in home economics.
Outstanding Organization:
Chesapeake Energy
Chesapeake Energy Corporation awarded more than $20,000 in grants and private support to WVU Extension Service in 2007-2008, including associate sponsorship of the Community Development Institute East program, the purchase of web cameras for all county offices, and assistance for the Wetzel County 4-H program.
Chesapeake Energy Corporation is the largest producer of natural gas in the United States. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company’s operations are focused on exploratory and developmental drilling and corporate and property acquisitions in the Mid-Continent, Fort Worth Barnett Shale, Fayetteville Shale, Haynesville Shale, Permian Basin, Delaware Basin,
South Texas, Texas Gulf Coast, Ark-La-Tex, and Appalachian Basin regions of the United States.
The company’s Eastern Division is headquartered in Charleston, W.Va.
Outstanding Partner:
Carl Townsend
Carl A. Townsend has worked throughout the last year with the WVU Extension Service Development Office to increase the Ohio County 4-H Fund by $50,000, leaving the fund large enough to provide the Ohio County 4-H Foundation with enough money to operate its annual budget from the endowment’s annual earnings.
With Townsend’s help, the Ohio County fund has grown by $30,000 over the last year. The development office, with his assistance, hopes to reach the $50,000 target over the next six months.
Townsend has been a 4-H’er all his life, starting as a member in Wood County. He also served as a volunteer leader in Arkansas with his kids while in the Air Force, and as an Extension 4-H educator for the past 17-plus years in Ohio County. He is committed to 4-H young adult development through the teen leadership and the Charting programs. He also is committed to adult volunteer leadership development across West Virginia.
Outstanding Resource Development:
Mark Fullen
Mark Fullen, assistant professor and program leader for WVU Safety & Health Extension, has worked successfully over the last year to secure private funding for the West Virginia Safety Alliance program.
His extensive donor visits with the WVU Extension Development Office has paid off with a major gift contribution to begin the safety alliance program, which will promote workplace safety and health among small and large West Virginia contractors.
He brings 14 years of construction safety and health experience to this position. He has served as the Co-PI on Fall-Safe, a long-term fall prevention intervention program funded by The Center to Protect Workers Rights and NIOSH.
He recently completed pilot study research on the hazards facing construction workers installing modular homes and has worked as a safety professional for construction companies in the petro-chemical, industrial, and bridge construction industries. Fullen has a bachelor’s in safety engineering and a master’s in occupational safety and health. He is currently pursuing his doctorate of education at West Virginia University within the Department of Technology Education.
Outstanding Volunteer Fund-Raising:
Delores S. Barber
Delores S. Barber, who is currently serving as the chair of the 2011 International Master Gardener Conference Committee, has been relentless in her pursuit of financial support for the conference.
She has already helped secure the featured sponsor for the event, Ball Horticultural Co., and has worked tirelessly to coordinate national, state, and regional fund-raising efforts of the International Master Gardener Conference Committee.
Barber is a Logan County native who has lived in Charleston for more than 40 years. She earned her bachelor’s in business from West Virginia State University in 1992. A founding member of the Kanawha County Master Gardener Group, which was formed in 1994, Barber served two terms as that group’s president.
She has devoted volunteer time to many Kanawha County Master Gardener projects, including the outdoor classroom, reminiscent therapy, the annual plant sale, the Coonskin Garden Park project, meet the plants, and the Kanawha County Fair. She also served two terms as president of the West Virginia Master Gardener Association.