Life

WNC fundraisers honor HHS grad with top youth award

By Bill Moss, Published: November 9, 2013

ASHEVILLE — The Association of Fundraising Professionals Western North Carolina Chapter will give a 2013 Hendersonville High School graduate its top award for youth when it honors nonprofit contributors and volunteers next week.

The association, in partnership with Lenoir-Rhyne University's Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville, will celebrate National Philanthropy Day on Thursday, Nov. 14, by recognizing Outstanding Philanthropist, Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser, Outstanding Fundraising Executive, Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy, Outstanding Business in Philanthropy and Outstanding Foundation and will present the T. Kennon Roberson Award for Nonprofit Management Excellence.

The organization will honor Pageant "Page" Nevel as its Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy. Nevel, the daughter of Kat and Chris Nevel, founded the Pride Club at HHS to support the LBGTQ community and worked as a volunteer at Blue Ridge Humane Society during high school. A freshman at Salem College in Winston-Salem, she hopes to pursue a career in wilderness therapy.
The fundraisers group will also celebrate the contributions of Charlotte Street Computers (Outstanding Business), Don Harris (Outstanding Fundraising Executive), Western North Carolina Medical Society Foundation (Outstanding Foundation), Cissie Stevens (Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser), Mack Pearsall (Outstanding Philanthropist) and YMCA of Western North Carolina president and CEO Paul Vest (the T. Kennon Roberson Award for Nonprofit Management Excellence).
The National Philanthropy Day luncheon will be held at the Renaissance Asheville Hotel Ballroom. Tickets are $30 with a reservation by Nov. 7, after which time they will increase to $40. Tickets may be purchased online at www.afpwnc.org/national-philanthropy-day.