An award worth celebrating

PA IPL past president (and current co-secretary Sylvia Neely) was honored on April 25 as the Volunteer of the Year for Interfaith Human Services, where she also sits on the board.    Not our usual blog entry, but her citation deserves sharing.  We hope it may inspire others to create similar avenues for outreach, compassion, and emissions reduction in their cities and towns.

Interfaith Human Services 2012 Volunteer of the Year: Sylvia Neely

When contemplating the many people who have contributed to the successful work of Interfaith Human Services, one name brought a consensus of yeses: Sylvia Neely.

Sylvia is responsible for coordinating over 22 home energy efficiency classes for Interfaith Human services and the Centre County Fuel bank between July 2012 and February 2013.  Her efforts connected more than 200 Centre County households with information and hands-on training to promote responsible and consciencious use of heating resources.  She was also instrumental in establishing IHS's partnership with Pennsylvania Interfaith Power & Light.

Sylvia serves on the IHS Board of Directors and, in addition to her previous efforts, assists weekly in the office.  She has provided hundreds of hours of support, encouragement, knowledge, and professional skills to make a significant and lasting impact for positive change.

Sylvia is a special gift to Interfaith Human Services and to the entire community.

Thank you, Sylvia!


Photo: the fantastic kitchen team from PA IPL (and IHS) member congregation and host of the very first congregant/client dinner and energy efficiency class at Trinity Lutheran Church.  When presenters took time to explain an idea more thoroughly after the class, a 19 year old man who attended with his mother thanked the people there and commented "People aren't usually so nice to us."  Some client attendees were self-taught whizzes in energy efficiency already, and readily shared their tips and tricks.