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Stachacz completes leadership program

January 6, 2006

KOKOMO, Ind.—John Stachacz, director of the Indiana University Kokomo Library, recently graduated as a member of the Leadership Kokomo Class of 2005.

Working with the sponsorship of area businesses and the City of Kokomo, the Kokomo/Howard County Chamber of Commerce offers the yearlong leadership program to encourage community pride, interaction, and contribution. The 20 members of the Class of 2005 began taking leadership classes last January, and then applied lessons learned in community service projects benefiting five area non-profit organizations: The Kokomo Rescue Mission, Nesting Doves women’s shelter, the Howard County Home, the YMCA, and the Howard County Children’s Center.

Stachacz was part of a team that helped convert a vacant room at the YMCA into a computer/learning room. “This involved putting in a new drop ceiling, painting, and soliciting funds to buy computer tables, ceiling fans, new lights, carpeting, and chairs,” Stachacz said. “Every member of the group was involved with both the labor and the fund raising activities.”   

The community donors’ generosity impressed him, Stachacz said, as did the ability of his teammates “to rally around the group and rise to every occasion to accomplish our project. 

“It was a great way to learn about the Kokomo community and to incorporate IU Kokomo into a worthwhile community activity.”

At a Leadership Kokomo Class graduation celebration on December 15, Chamber of Commerce President Rick Hamilton praised the graduates for the more than $30,000 worth of services they provided through their class projects. “This is a great contribution they have made to our community,” Hamilton said.

IU Kokomo alumna Lisa Olmsted, a certified public accountant with Bucheri McCarty and Metz, LLP, also graduated with the Leadership Kokomo Class of 2005. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business at IU Kokomo in 1995.

The Kokomo/Howard County Chamber of Commerce is now taking applications for its 2006 Leadership Kokomo Class. For more information, contact Melanie Showalter at 457-5301.