JLM Annual Award Winners - 2005-2006

Provisionals of the Year - Anne Marie Muller and Veronica Ramirez

We would like to honor two women from our Provisional class for their accomplishments this past year.  They were nominated by their mentor and mentioned by several Actives and Board members alike that were touched by their time and generosity to our League.

Their story starts out with a somewhat familiar refrain….each Provisional was assigned to a mentor group but turned out to be the only two Provisionals in their group.  As we Actives and Sustainers know…every now and then a committee has babies, promotions and other life altering events that just come up.  It is how we handle those events that defines who we are.  Their chosen group project was to plan and execute a “Gloves are Off” project for all of the Provisionals.  Without the support of a complete mentor group, to say the least…they put on a flawless event at Kristi House.  The project included landscaping, spring cleaning and the painting of a mural in the girl’s bathroom.  They both went the extra mile to make things special.  They secured donations of plants, gardening supplies, paint, food and countless other items that were required for the event to be completed successfully.  One quote heard on the day of the event by a Provisional participating as a “Gloves are Off”” volunteer was, “This was only planned by two people?”

Additionally, they received help from the community to aide an internal book drive asked for monetary donations from their company and one volunteer even had her son help with physical labor at all of the events.  Aside from their general requirements, collectively these women gathered 10 meeting and project credits.

They have exhibited all of the qualities that make a volunteer in The Junior League of Miami an award winner…please join me in congratulating our Provisionals of the Year.

Sustainer of the Year – Mary Young

As a Past President of the Junior League of Miami, Mary Young has done it all…big, small and everything in-between.  This year Mary has been the Sustaining Advisor to the Board of Directors.  As such she brings a sense of history to discussions and offers ideas on how to move forward.

Beyond her role as Sustaining Advisor she has done so much more.  Mary attended the Board retreat and not only lead a “fireside chat” which showed the board how we are all inter-linked to one another, but she bought cozy blankets and pillows for everyone to  really  get in to the spirit of the moment.

Sharing her knowledge, she was the keynote speaker at leadership training this year where she presented a history lesson to new leaders.  This of course took time, thought and dedication.  She went through our old photo albums and extracted what she thought  would  be interesting and helpful to our new leaders. 

In August she was the keynote speaker at Super Saturday where she, in typical Mary Young style, made the new members laugh and cry at the same time.  She has a certain way of conveying important information while making you realize your time is being so well spent here with The Junior League of Miami.

Mary has done so many other things large and small to help make this year so special for so many.  All of this has been done while being an Executive for IBM and President of the YWCA for the second year in a row. 

Please join me in thanking Mary Young….the master of Thank You notes herself….for being this year’s Sustainer of The Year. 

Volunteer of the Year – Valerie Harvey

Serving as the VP of Communications, Valerie Harvey devotes her time to the Junior League of Miami every single, solitary day.  She has edited every invitation, announcement, outline and newsletter this year.  All things pass through Valerie’s hands and are transformed into a thing of beauty.

Everyone is in agreement that Valerie’s work goes beyond a traditional placement.  In addition to her time, Valerie has also been instrumental in conceiving and developing our new online membership directory that allows all 1,000 members access to the directory from any web browser anywhere. She spearheaded the redesign and reorganization of our website with a sharp new look and easy navigation. She has streamlined how we communicate and given all our materials a professional, compelling look.

Valerie does so much more than put information into an email or flyer format…she thinks ahead and recommends what she believes would be helpful to our membership and her input has made our communication to our members very effective.

With a lean budget, Valerie has successfully completed the goals of her council and has enjoyed mentoring to those on her council.

While the League year drawing to a close for most of our members over the last month, Valerie was gearing up for the Annual Meeting.  She thoughtfully assessed all aspects of our event to ensure that it was done professionally and cost effectively….which basically means Valerie did it all, yet again.

Please join me in communicating our thanks to Valerie Harvey, Communications Vice President extraordinaire and our Volunteer of The Year.

The Rebecca Herndon Bush Award for Outstanding Community Service - Jennifer Stearns Buttrick

Jennifer is an attorney who practices law part-time at Stearns Weaver Miller, where she is a shareholder in the litigation department.  She is married to Matthew, who is also an attorney at Stearns Weaver Miller and is the mother of two boys, Zachary, who is 4 and Joshua who is 21 months.  Baby number three is due in July.  When Jennifer is not driving carpool, working or taking her children to various activities, she is volunteering her time and effort to making our community a better place for those who are less fortunate, particularly children.  She believes in a “one-on-one” approach by volunteering, meaning if everyone made an effort to make a difference in the life of one person who is less fortunate, the world would be a much better place.

This year Jennifer served as co-chair of Miami: Who Makes a Magic City.  She dedicated countless hours of her time to make this event a tremendous success.  When Merrick Park pulled most of their funding for the event, she and her co-chair Katie Lane-Arriola went above and beyond the call of duty and raised $31,000 in additional underwriting.  The event was fun and financially successful and raised about $70,000 for the League’s community projects and grants…and doubled the budgeted profit.

After her event was over, Jennifer supported the Golf Tournament and the WWMD Luncheon.  Additionally for the past two years she has collected money from friends and co-workers to purchase Target gifts cards for the children and families served by the League’s community projects.  This year, right after Magic City, she collected money to buy 32 $25 gifts cards, which were given to the Community Council to distribute at the holidays. 

And now for some things you probably never knew about Jennifer Stearns Buttrick.  I am going to tell you about some of the outside community activities she has participated in…only Jennifer knows how many projects she has been part of.

The Key Biscayne Holiday Relief Fund:  This past December, a few weeks after Magic City, Jennifer received a call from Chief Press, the Key Biscayne Chief of Police.  Chief Press informed her that there were 150 children in Overtown who were not going to be receiving any gifts at the holidays and asked if there was anything she could do to help organize a quick toy drive- you see it was Tuesday and the toys had to be delivered on Friday.  In three days, with guidance from Karen Fryd (one of the League’s 2004 WWMD honorees with whom Jennifer kept in touch), Jennifer collected over $2,000 from Key Biscayners and went on a shopping spree at Wal-Mart (where she was able to arrange a discount and tax free shopping).  She purchased holiday gifts for 150 children ranging in age from infants to teenagers, filling just about every square inch of her minivan.  The gifts were delivered with the assistance of the Key Biscayne Police Department.  It was such a moving experience that it motivated her to form the Key Biscayne Holiday Relief Fund and she has decided to make this an annual toy drive, which will hopefully serve even more children next year and in the coming years.

In addition, Jennifer is a volunteer for Lawyers for Children America where she represents children in foster care who are often neglected in our legal system.  She is active in The Gordon Schools at Beth David where her son attends, has been a board member of City Theatre for 10 years, a Casa Valentina Visionary and a Voting Rights Attorney protecting everyone’s right to vote. She provides pro bono services and advocates for individuals providing life-changing assistance to families in need with special needs.

About Annual Award Process