Greater Pike Community Foundation names 2023 honorees

A longstanding community supporter, an enterprising family-based hospitality business team and a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping veterans have been named the 2023 Greater Pike Community Foundation honorees and will be honored at Greater Pike’s annual Dinner Celebration on Sunday, Oct. 8.

“As we move forward into our second decade of community service, Greater Pike is working hard to advance philanthropy and help address the evolving and emerging needs in our community,” said Gail Shuttleworth, Greater Pike Board Chair. “We are grateful for the continued support of the greater Pike County region and the outstanding work of community members such as those selected to be our 2023 honorees.”

Honoring these community members will be part of the eighth-annual dinner, planned for Sunday, Oct. 8, at 5:30 pm at Cedar Lakes Estate, Greenville, N.Y. Additional information, tickets, and sponsorships are available at www.greaterpike.org/1-annual-dinner.

As part of the honoree award, Greater Pike will donate to the nonprofit organization of the honorees’ choosing, to be announced at the dinner.

Davis R. Chant

The family of Davis R. Chant, awarded the Barbara J. Buchanan Community Service Award posthumously, will accept the award honoring him for his too-many-to-list contributions to the betterment of the greater Pike region. As a successful businessman and Realtor, Dave also is best known for his love of and accomplishments in the community as a participant and supporter of many local nonprofit organizations. Oftentimes with Barbara Buchanan, he was a moving force behind many community endeavors, both large and small. Many will recall his participation with the Milford Enhancement Committee, the Milford Readers and Writers Festival, and his establishment of the Black Bear Film Festival and Greater Pike Community Foundation, which he helped establish 10 years ago as a founding board member.

A stalwart member of the community, he worked to bring people together both in business and service to the community. He pursued all his activities with the power of positivity and believed in helping the community grow and thrive with a gentle touch and honest approach.

The Genzlinger Family

The Genzlinger Family/Settlers Hospitality, is awarded the Richard L. Snyder Business Leadership Award, for the vision and fortitude to grow the hospitality industry in this region while utilizing sustainable practices to protect the environment. A fixture in northeast Pennsylvania for more than 40 years Settler’s Hospitality has expanded over 40+ years from its first restaurant in Hawley to six hotels, seven restaurants and a fitness center, with an eye toward continued expansion.

Each step of the way, Settlers Hospitality has maintained its vision and mission to pay a living wage, embrace sustainable practices, deliver experiences, preserve history and buy local.

The Genzlinger family has taken both hospitality and community service to the highest level. Grant has been active in the farm-to-table movement and has led such organizations as the Wayne County Historical Society and the Delaware Highlands Conservancy.

Jeanne is a past president of the Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau and has served numerous other nonprofit organizations. Grant and Jeanne Genzlinger were joined in the business by their son Justin, CEO of Settlers Hospitality, who continues his parents’ commitment to community service by serving with the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, the Human Resource Center Foundation and as a member of the Pike Medical Foundation Fund Board.

Visit settlershospitality.com/our-history to enjoy the story of how the Genzlinger family started – and continues – to put community first.

VetStock

VetStock is awarded the Nonprofit Excellence Award for its 10-plus years serving northeast Pennsylvania building the financial strength of organizations providing services to veterans, disabled veterans and active military men and women, and their families.

Located in Milford and operated entirely by volunteers, Vetstock’s fundraising efforts include the production of a variety of events throughout the year. It also engages in specific programs such as seed money for the Hometown Heroes Banner programs, funds for the Milford Quilting Guild providing quilts for the veteran’s home in Scranton and scholarships for hundreds of families.

VetStock’s impact in the community cannot be overestimated. It provided funding for a fully accessible home in Hawley to a local disabled veteran who was able to relocate from a nursing facility in the Bronx and works with equine therapy and service dog programs to help veterans with PTSD. Passion and dedication to the cause, an unrelenting amount of energy, and the help of such local businesses as Key Food, Woodloch, and others is what makes VetStock run.

But above all, it is the volunteers without whom VetStock “would not be who we are or where we are,” according to VetStock President Thomas Ryan.

Follow VetStock on Facebook @VetStockAmerica or learn more at www.wedoitforvets.com and www.VetStockAmerica.com