Archive: Around Town

Tompkins Trust Company honored 3 individuals and one group with the "James J. Byrnes Awards for Excellence" for their outstanding volunteer service to the community. $10,000 was donated to local charitable organizations from the bank's endowment fund through the Legacy Foundation of Tompkins County. The honorees each designated their monetary awards to not-for-profit organizations of their choice.

This year's honorees are Anne Haus, Daniel Krall, Karli Buday, and the Hangar Theatre Board of Directors.

Tompkins Trust Company President and CEO Greg Hartz, who also serves as the Legacy Foundation President, presented the awards at a reception at the bank's headquarters at 118 East Seneca Street.

"I look forward to these awards every year; this is what being a community bank is about," said Hartz. "The Trust Company, through the Legacy Foundation, is proud to honor and support the work of this year's recipients. Their dedication to improving our community through volunteerism promoting the arts, culture, education, and simply helping those in need is truly extraordinary, and demonstrates the mission of the Foundation by improving the quality of life for so many in Tompkins County."

The James J. Byrnes Awards for Excellence program was established during the bank's Sesquicentennial Celebration in 1986 as a means of sharing its success with community members who have helped to enrich the quality of life in Tompkins County. In 2014, the Awards for Excellence program was renamed the James J. Byrnes Awards for Excellence to honor the retirement of Jim Byrnes, a longtime Ithaca resident and leader of Tompkins Financial Corporation.

The endowment is administered by the Legacy Foundation, a local not-for-profit trust. The vision of the Legacy Foundation, which began in 1945, is a commitment to "improving the quality of life in Tompkins County for those who come after us." Since 1986, the Awards for Excellence program has recognized more than 253 individuals or groups with awards totaling more than $360,000.

A capsule look at this year’s recipients:

• Anne Haus, for her tireless work volunteering at the Trumansburg Food Pantry for over 10 years.
• Hangar Theatre Board of Directors, an entirely volunteer Board, for their incredible efforts not only to the arts community, but the community at large in Ithaca, and the surrounding region.
• Daniel Krall, for his remarkable work volunteering and supporting the vision of Ithaca Children’s Garden.
• Karli Buday, for her outstanding contributions volunteering for the Area 17 Special Olympics Program.

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