Warren Coalition presents Larry M. Funk Award to Roger Smelser

On July 28^th, Warren Coalition members and staff gathered for the annual Awards & Appreciation Luncheon at the Warren County Community Center. This event has traditionally recognized the Warren Coalition Member of the Year and demonstrated appreciation for members who have shown consistent dedication throughout the year. This year, there was also a new award presented: the Larry M. Funk Award for Outstanding Service to Children in Warren County.

Warren Coalition Executive Director Christa Shifflett presents the Larry M. Funk Award for Outstanding Service to Children in Warren County to Roger P. Smelser during the Warren Coalition Awards & Appreciation Luncheon on July 28th.

Larry M. Funk was a member of Warren Coalition for more than 20 years, serving in a number of positions to include Vice President and President during that time. He was the Warren County Sheriff’s Office D.A.R.E. instructor and Community Policing representative for 27 of his 28 years of his law enforcement career, and frequently went above and beyond his role in service to the children of Warren County. He was also an elder at his church and served as assistant Sunday school superintendent and as a youth Sunday school teacher. During the luncheon, Larry was remembered with fondness.

“Larry loved children. The Coalition was the apple of his eye,” his wife, Linda, said.

“It’s really hard to follow a man like my father,” his son, William, acknowledged. “He was a wonderful man. He cared so much about kids, and treating others the way you want to be treated was also a priority for him.”

“He was such a cheerleader for the Coalition,” said Christa Shifflett, Warren Coalition Executive Director. “The uplifting words, the posts online that he was pleased and honored to be a part of such a great organization supporting the kids of Warren County. Continuously promoting, promoting, promoting.”

Submissions for the award were accepted from early May through June 3^rd. A committee of three members from the Warren Coalition independently reviewed the nominations and sent their top four choices to Christa. Three people were selected by all three committee members, and a fourth received two votes. Christa forwarded those four nominations to Linda and William for the final decision.

Of the 18 nominations submitted, five of them were for this year’s recipient of the Larry M. Funk Award for Outstanding Service to Children: Roger P. Smelser, Jr.

Roger has been a coach, manager, and President of Front Royal Little League for over 30 years, serving even during times of illness. “Roger is there for the children and would do anything for any of these children in the league,” wrote one supporter. “[He] would give you the shirt of his back if he needed to. [He] is a role model to all the baseball children which he has been coaching for over 30 years.”

“His kindness, his honesty, his hard work, his dedication to the youth in our town and county has endured for many decades. He continues to amaze me how much he cares for our children,” another person wrote in.

“[Roger] maintains community outreach, knows the kids by name, donates his time every day, maintaining the fields, umpiring games, and especially great relationship and much respect from all the kids,” wrote another.

While there were many worthy nominees, the choice of Roger Smelser for the first Larry M. Funk Award for Outstanding Service to Children was clear. “What really struck me was that everything he does is volunteer-based,” Linda commented.

As Christa presented the award to Roger, she said, “Sir, thank you so much for your dedication to the kids in Warren County. Trust me when I tell you the community loves you and recognizes how much you have given to the kids.”

Clearly moved by the award, Roger thanked everyone, saying, “It’s an honor. I know with Larry, it was all about kids. To even be considered [for this award] in his name is special.”

Roger received an engraved crystal award and a $500 cash prize. In addition, his name has been engraved on a plaque that will list each year’s honoree and be kept in the Warren Coalition office.

In addition to presenting the Larry M. Funk Award during the luncheon, the Coalition recognized Nick Croft as the Member of the Year. This is the second consecutive Member of the Year Award for Nick, who has received the award multiple times during his tenure with the Coalition. Despite facing serious challenges this past year, he still continued to provide much-needed technical support and website assistance to the Coalition. Nick also hosts the Coalition website on his own server.

Additional awards included a Perfect Attendance Award for Robbie Seal of the Warren County Sheriff’s Office, and three people received the Attendance Award for being at 80% of the Coalition meetings: Jessica Dandridge from WCPS, Alexia Rosen from Family Preservation Services, and Susan Smith with WCPS.

Warren Coalition is a nonprofit agency established in 1994 to help fill the gaps in health care and substance misuse awareness to the community. The Coalition began under the guidance of Warren Memorial Hospital as an outreach project, but it has since grown and was incorporated in 2001.  The office is currently located in the Warren County Community Center.  Their mission is to make Warren County a safe, healthy, and drug-free community through many programs and in collaboration with 15+ member agencies.