Keuka College hosted a celebration of community on Tuesday, presenting the annual Donald and Corinne Stork Award for Community Service to lifelong Dundee residents Alan and Lew Ann Giles.
Those attending the luncheon included friends and family of Alan and Lew Ann Giles, as well as past Stork Award honorees.
The Gileses were honored for their extensive commitment to public service and community involvement.
Speaking on behalf of the couple, Lew Ann said they were “amazed” at being selected to receive the award.
“Forty-seven years ago, we said our marriage vows,” she told the audience of about 80 friends, family, and well-wishers in the College’s Geiser Dining Commons. “And we promised, for better or worse, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, in all seasons and all times, we would stay together and work together. And it’s been a pretty good team.”
Keuka College President Amy Storey presents Lew Ann and Alan Giles with a proclamation of gratitude from the New York State Legislature. The proclamation was co-sponsored by Assemblyman Phil Palmesano and state Sen. Thomas O’Mara.
The Gileses have contributed significantly to various organizations in Dundee, including Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Council of Churches, the Starkey Town Board, the public schools, the library, the Rotary, the food pantry, and the Dundee Baptist Church.
In announcing the award, Keuka College Community Associates Board Chair Steve Griffin highlighted two additional initiatives spearheaded by the couple: The “Bookcase for Every Child” campaign to make bookshelves – and books – available to local children, and a community health improvement project called “Our Town Rocks.”
“Childhood literacy, public health – those aren’t generally the types of issues you often see tackled, especially successfully, at the local level,” he said. “But it speaks to just how engaged Alan and Lew Ann are in their community and why they’re such worthy recipients of the Stork Award.”
President Storey applauded the Gileses for being true examples of community spirit.
Lew Ann attributed their community spirit to values instilled by their parents – “ love and respect and care and work and faith in God” – as well as support from their siblings and children. She said the couple has always strived to embody the hymn, “Lord Whose Love Through Humble Service.”
“Everything we’ve done has been humble service because we were gifted by God to listen and love and learn with others,” Lew Ann said. “And so for the children and youth and adults in and around Dundee, it’s been a humble privilege to offer hope and help, to give goodwill and comfort, to council when asked, and to give aid and offer peace in whatever situations we could.”
College President Amy Storey praised the Gileses for their exemplary civic engagement.
In a world where it’s often difficult to discern what’s true, you don’t have to look any further than Lew Ann and Alan to see what true community spirit and community-minded behavior look like. I want to thank our Stork Award recipients for being exemplars of that, not only for me but for our students as well.
