The Junior League of Stark County, Ohio, Inc. is pleased to host the seventy-fourth annual Women of the Year Award Honorees, Amy Mast as the Community Award Recipient and Laurie Moline as the President’s Award Recipient.
The Community Award recognizes a woman who has made lasting volunteer contributions impacting many parts of the community. Amy Mast has been a valuable member of the volunteer team at Pegasus Farm, a therapeutic equestrian center designed to maximize the potential of persons with disabilities to become independent, since 2009. Amy’s focus continues to be an integral part of operations focusing on the Farm’s annual Gala fundraiser. Additionally, Amy has helped women engage in creating
opportunities for supporting emotional and intellectual growth with a focus on families moving out of poverty through the United Way of Greater Stark County, Women United committee. Amy has served as a member of Women United since 2016, and chair for the past four years. With the United Way, Amy also volunteers as a member of the Community Investment Committee and Chair of the Leaders in Giving for the United Way’s annual fundraising campaign.
Another passion of Amy’s is The Women’s Fund, a permanent endowment of the Stark County Community Foundation. Amy has tirelessly served on the Advisor’s Committee as Chair, Development Chair and Grant Committee member since 2014, leading donor campaigns, strategic planning, community forums and a scoring rubric for a grant process. Amy has been a true asset and applied her volunteer talents to The Junior League of Stark County, Ohio, Inc. For nearly two decades, Amy has volunteered in various committee and leadership positions including: Vice President of Training and Development Council, Strategic Planning committee chair, Women of the Year Committee, Community Action Council, public relations/marketing, fundraising, board training, and provisional training workshops. Amy is an active member and volunteer of John Knox Presbyterian Church in North
Canton since 1985 in various roles for both youth and adults, and very involved in leadership roles in the Wayne County Rotary International Orrville Rotary Club.
The President’s Award is presented to a woman through her volunteer work providing a significant impact in a specific area of the community. Laurie Moline has been a passionate advocate for young people in Stark County since 2011. As chairman of the United Way Women’s Leadership Council, she led the development of the United Way Get Connected program in partnership with Canton City Schools and Aultman College, then helped secure funding through the Ohio Department of Education to expand the
program into GlenOak and Alliance High Schools. Through Get Connected, she built mentoring friendships with dozens of young people in the community that continue to this day, becoming a trusted and reliable friend that helps find solutions, resources, connections, and pathways so they can create the life they want for themselves. Laurie credits her mentoring friendships with teaching her how to support and empower young people working to break out of cycles of generational poverty.
In 2019, Laurie formed MentorStark, a non-profit with a mission to further advance the mentoring movement in Stark County and create a more connected community. She leads bimonthly meetings with mentoring program leaders across the county and works to provide them with training, resources, and support for their programs. She also runs
the MentorStark Opportunity Club, helping young people ages 15-27 network, explore careers and build relationships that open up doors to opportunity.
Laurie is a member of the Stark County Suicide Prevention Coalition, the Canton City Health Department Adolescent Work Group, the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce Education Committee, and the Stark County Job and Family Services Planning Committee.
The awards luncheon event will take place on Wednesday, October 6 at 11:00 a.m. at Gervasi Vineyard in Canton.
The Junior League of Stark County, Ohio, Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.