Making a Difference in Lorain County

Director of Investments Marcia Miller and retired Associate Director of the Annual Fund Claudia Jones were among those who received Excellence in Leadership awards from Leadership Lorain

County. The awards were presented during the organization’s Difference Makers Gala, held Friday, February 21.

Miller was recognized for her work with 100 Women Who Care About Lorain County, of which she is a founding member, and Jones was recognized for her work with the Girl Scouts and other organizations.

The following profiles are reprinted with the permission of the Chronicle Telegram, which covered the gala in its February 22, 2014, edition. Read about all of the award recipients on the newspaper’s website.

Claudia Jones

Jones received the Excellence in Leadership Award. She credits her ambition to make the world a better place to Girl Scouts.

Jones, a Girl Scout since the 1940s, is a past board chairwoman for the Girl Scouts of Erie Shores legacy council (Lorain County) and she continues as a board member-at-large for the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio. This past year, she chaired the task committee that conducted a national search to recruit GSNEO’s new CEO, and she received the President’s Award for her volunteer leadership. Jones also was recognized as a Girl Scout Woman of Distinction.

Jones recently retired after 35 years with Oberlin College, where she most recently served as the associate director of fund development. Since retiring, she has embraced her “second career” as an community volunteer.

Additionally, she is a member of the New Sunrise Properties Board that focuses on providing affordable, permanent housing for Lorain County residents with low to moderate income or who may have moderate to severe mental illness.

“I don’t think you can be part of this world and not care about this world,” Jones said. “If you can do something, you should share something. Share that gift if you can.”

100 Women Who Care About Lorain County Founders

Sue Bowers, Marcia Miller, Nancy Sullivan and Libby Thuning met while pursuing their MBA degrees at Tiffin University.

At an annual holiday gathering, they discussed how it would be great to figure out a way to do something more for others in lieu of exchanging gifts among themselves. The following summer, a column by Regina Brett about a group of women who met and gave money to local nonprofit organizations sparked a conversation among them and on Oct. 13, 2010, they held their first meeting of 100 Women Who Care About Lorain County.

The concept is simple: Making a difference one woman at a time. Their motto, “One Charity, One Hour, One Large Sum of Money, Purely Local Benefit” defines the organization’s purpose.

Since its inception, the 100 Women Who Care have raised more than $100,000 for 12 nonprofits across Lorain County.

“It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes 100 women to help that village,” Bowers said.