‘Wetzel Community Leadership Award’ honorees recognized at luncheon next week

Healthcare Foundation of Northern Sonoma County will present the honorees of the 2015 Wetzel Community Leadership Award on  Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Vintners Inn.
A healthcare foundation press release stated: “Our community will come together to honor Mary Ellen Smith, Barbara Grasseschi and Tony Crabb with the Wetzel Community Leadership Award, and the new Spirit of Wetzel Award will be presented to Tara and Dane Jasper – all have provided extraordinary commitment, leadership and philanthropy to the community.”
The Wetzel Award is named for longtime friends of the Healthcare Foundation and generous members of our community, Maggie and Harry Wetzel. The Wetzels’ memory lives on through the annual leadership award honorees, “who exemplify humanitarian leadership values in action. Truly, their impact on our community is without measure.”
Smith, a supporter, leader and advisor to the Healthcare Foundation for over 10 years, served as board chair in 2009-10 and was instrumental in raising $13 million for Healdsburg District Hospital. She also launched and chaired the Girlfriends for a Cure luncheon, where women came together to purchase a new mammography machine for the hospital. The Girlfriends event is the forerunner to Wine Women & Shoes.
Grasseschi and Crabb left their successful careers to live in and invest in Sonoma County. Preferring to build operations for a nonprofit’s sustainability, they systematically invest in infrastructure solutions for community issues around health, education and conservation.
Organizations they support include the Healthcare Foundation, Russian Riverkeeper, Sonoma Land Trust, Truckee Land Trust, Community Foundation Sonoma County, Healdsburg Education Foundation, United Nations Foundation and Union of Concerned Scientists.
They are the founders of the CTE Fund, which partners with schools to provide technology experiences and education for students, preparing them for the workforce. In addition to funding, they consistently bring their considerable business acumen as advisors and leaders to every organization they support.
A new Spirit of Wetzel Award is being presented to Tara and Dane Jaspar. As parents of young children, and also growing a telecommunications company like Sonic., they could easily take a pass at community leadership right now. But that doesn’t occur to them. They emanate a passionate spirit for building community, as they are eager to make a difference when it comes to healthcare and education. Dane, as CEO of Sonic., sees addressing community health and education issues as a way of improving his employees’ lives and community as well.
Tara has chaired the live auction for Wine Women & Shoes all of its three years, and her leadership has helped raise over $1 million. She inspires all around her to get involved and make a difference. Accomplished professionals, they are just beginning their community leadership activities and have already made a big impact on our community – hence, the Spirit of Wetzel award, their leadership values are in keeping with the spirit of the Maggie and Harry Wetzel.
The Healthcare Foundation brings together community donors to support a network of healthcare providers in Northern Sonoma County.
Show your support by attending the luncheon to honor these community leaders. Tickets are $175 each. Ticket and sponsor information is at healthcarefoundation.net or by calling 473-0583.
– Submitted by Healthcare Foundation Northern Sonoma County