A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

NonProfit briefs: PWC gets grant; Spratt gets NKSPE scholarship; Aviation Hall of Famers named


People Working Cooperatively (PWC) has been awarded a $140,000 grant from the Jacob G. Schmidlapp Trusts, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee, to be used for the Whole Home Innovation Center’s health and housing education services and programming.

“The link between health and housing is not well understood,” said Chris Owens, Vice President of Development for People Working Cooperatively. “This grant allows PWC to increase awareness through the Whole Home Innovation Center’s comprehensive healthy homes education programs and services.”

PWC’s Whole Home Innovation Center provides an integrated approach to health and housing, synthesizing content from evidence-based programs to help people understand the important effects the residential built environment can have on their health. Part think tank and part idea lab, the Innovation Center is a convening space where interested parties work together, sharing information and ideas through educational workshops, interactive demonstrations, seminars, and more.

“At PWC we believe we can play a role in transforming our community’s health and safety in the home for residents of all ages,” said Nina Creech, Senior Vice President of People Working Cooperatively and the Whole Home Innovation Center.

Grant funding for the Whole Home Innovation Center will support a one-stop, comprehensive healthy homes education program. This is based on both expert instruction and by demonstrating these concepts in a physical location, where its showrooms can help people understand what a healthy home looks and feels like.

To learn more about People Working Cooperatively, visit the website or call (513) 351-7921.

Society of Engineers awards scholarship

Grant County High School graduate Benjamin Spratt, of Dry Ridge, was selected as the 2019 scholarship winner for the Northern Kentucky Chapter of the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers (NKSPE). Spratt will use the $2,000, renewable, annual scholarship to study civil engineering during his college career.

Benjamin Spratt

Spratt was selected from a group of 26 Northern Kentucky high school students whose applications were assessed based on grade point average, ACT scores, work and volunteer activities, awards received, and essay discussing their engineering career paths. Applicants had to indicate their pursuit of a four-year engineering degree at an accredited university. The applications received were extremely thorough, and the field was very competitive, but Benjamin’s stood out because of the extensive leadership he exhibits and the commitment he has to bettering Kentucky.

NKSPE scholarships are funded solely through proceeds from NKSPE’s annual golf outing. The outing puts 100% of its earning towards helping local high school students pursue higher education. If you or your company is interested in helping support these high achievers, please consider attending the outing this year! It will take place on August 26 at Triple Crown Country Club and as always is open to anyone.

If you are interested in playing or being a sponsor, please visit kspenky.org for more information.

Aviation Hall of Fame inductees

Three individuals with outstanding careers in aviation and aerospace research and a growing aviation services firm will enter the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame in Lexington on Saturday November 16.

Larry Gossett from Harrison County took a youthful interest in flight to a career in the U.S. Air Force and senior pilot positions at FedEx. Gossett’s Air Force career included instructor pilot duties as well as early testing of laser bomb technology in the skies over Europe. After service to our country, Gossett became a pilot at a very young Federal Express Corporation. His tenure at FedEx extended over four decades; his total flying career was 46 years.

Suzanne Weaver Smith PhD from Lexington has a career that reaches from research affecting the Hubble Space Telescope to the instruction of our country’s future aerospace engineers. Smith has received the National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award and leads the NASA Kentucky Space Grant Program at UK. Corporations such as Boeing and Harris Corporation have benefited from her expertise in the effects of vibration in space vehicle systems. Smith led a study considering the feasibility of inflatable wings for planetary exploration. Research under a $6 million National Science Foundation grant using unmanned aircraft for severe weather observation and sustainable agriculture is a more recent study that Smith directs.

Brigadier General Victor H. Strahm from Bowling Green enjoyed a unique career in military aviation. Flying in the 91st Aero Observation Squadron during World War I, Strahm brought down five enemy aircraft, became an “Ace”, and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was an air racer and a test pilot between the wars. During World War II Strahm served in command roles in airlift operations in the China-Burma theater as well as the offensive air operations over France for the D-Day invasion in June 1944. Several Allied nations gave Strahm their highest military awards. His career extended into the era of jet aircraft operations at the USAF. Strahm died in 1957.

FEAM Aero will be honored with the 2019 Aviation Achievement Award. Providing maintenance and engineering services to America’s cargo airlines, FEAM has stations around the USA. Its newest facility is a 103,000 square feet hangar at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Hebron. FEAM will serve this growing hub for internet commerce distribution.

The Aviation Museum of Kentucky is located at 4029 Airport Road, adjacent to Blue Grass Airport in Lexington. It is the official aviation museum of the Commonwealth as well as home to the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame, and operates as a non-profit corporation.


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