PACE Enterprises held its Second Annual Laurel Leadership Gala presented by United Bank, Hope Gas and WVU Medicine this Saturday at the Morgantown Marriott at Waterfront Place.
The event continues to support the Vision 2025 campaign. PACE plans to add additional workspace to provide more jobs for those with disabilities and has already established the first Special Needs Pooled Trust in West Virginia as part of the plan.
The focus of this year’s event was on PACE Place, an affordable, independent housing facility for those with disabilities. It will be located in Star City. PACE was recently awarded the FHLB-AHP grant that will help get this project started. Ground-breaking for the building will be later this spring.
Joe Lefkay, director of Marketing and Development said, expectations were exceeded last year and he looked forward to more growth this year.
Organizers expected attendance is 330, up about 15% from the inaugural event.
“We are very blessed with tremendous support from the community in sponsorship and ticket sales of our organization and event,” Lefkay said in a press release.
The Laurel Leadership Gala is a semi-formal dinner and auction offering items up for bid that included an African safari trip, beach trips and a trip to Tuscany.
There was also the “Laurel Leadership Award.” The PACE Board of Directors created this prestigious annual award to recognize the leadership of one individual who exemplifies leadership in advocacy, philanthropy and action to provide meaningful jobs for people with disabilities in West Virginia.
WVU Medicine President and CEO Albert Wright was this year’s recipient. He and WVU Medicine continually help the community and work with PACE on a regular basis to provide job opportunities for people with disabilities. Along with being a long-standing shredding client of PACE, WVU Medicine also partners with them on the Project Search initiative.
The auction portion of the gala was conducted by auctioneer James Yoder of Kaufman Auctions.
