e e what a guy what a guy so to introduce Nick ACO I'm pleased to welcome Mr Tim Alexander [Applause] you can run the stand if you want thank you good evening everyone my name is Tim Alexander and is um and I wanted to welcome everybody here tonight to honor some of the greatest people in our community I have the distinct honor of introducing my dear friend Nick ASO with whom I've shared countless conversations and some of them pretty profound over the years Nick and I first crossed the path thanks to his lovely wife Sandy uh and back in 2021 when I I'm G raise this mic up we we've never had such a tall guy how's that better yeah all right back in 2021 I was running for public office and I met uh Sandy uh through a telephone conversation and she said I want to meet you and my husband wants to meet you so we we picked a spot and we got together and what was supposed to be a short meeting because I had a busy schedule that day end up being hours and we covered so many topics and so many ideas and I was so impressed with Nick and his his ideas and of course with Sandy so that started our conver our our friendship on that spot and it lasts and it's gotten stronger over the years and as they say the rest is history so Nick asked me to keep this brief but his impact on countless lives is to significant not to mention just a few highlights as a founding member of el congresso a Statewide advocacy organization Nick recognized um Nick's recognition of the challenges facing returning Vietnam veterans led to the establishment of a crucial Statewide Vietnam veterans organization staffed entirely by veterans his efforts including a work study program that allowed veterans to work while find while funding their education was instrumental in securing and he was very instrumental in securing funding and support from Washington during his time as a student at Stockton nick uh collaborated with the administration to introduce residential GED programs one of the first of his kind he expanded the curriculum to include exposure to various sciences and occupations Guided by his belief and he said this to me so many times in so many different contexts you can't become something that you don't know exists or don't have the words to express this Vision has inspired many students to pursue their dreams and succeed Nick's drive to create opportunities for others has been a constant themed throughout his career as vice president of New Jersey's Department of Commerce he played a critical role in drafting the fun fund ational language for new regulations after the state laws a challenged to women's and minority set aside programs his work preserved opportunities for women small business and minority business across the state of New Jersey Nick's impact has been nothing short of transformative reaching the lives of thousands tonight we have the privilege of honoring this remarkable individual and I know many of you many of those who live whose lives he's T are here with us tonight please join me in eagerly welcoming my dear friend Nick ASO to the [Applause] [Music] [Applause] stage so Nick please say a few words in response you notice that microphone had to come down a couple feet Tim Alexander thank you so much if you think that the only person you see on this stage is me you're wrong it's an optical illusion this stage is full of people and families like the families when my mother and their two sisters came to this country these families welcomed them took them in and made them part of their lives I still benefit from that generosity my firehouse family C Brook Fire and Rescue station [Applause] 32 true heroes in every sense of the word volunteers that in a moment's notice are willing to go out and sacrifice whatever is necessary to protect us I'm privileged to thank you my wife told me two minutes and I've been married for over 40 years so I know it's not a request my martial arts family our school of internal wisdom n Jan our bodies our minds and our spirit were tempered inside a crucible of courtesy respect and discipline I honor you and bow finally my wife my family and my friends too many to mention in a two-minute speech but I want them to know that every day they inspire me to be a better person thank you so [Applause] [Music] much in closing I'm reminded that this great nation of ours was founded on many new ideas one of them was inspired by the words of the Roman poet and created the opportunity for us out of many one it was important then and it's even more important now so I'm going to end as I started okay but the veil has been lifted and our vision is clear so I want you all to do me a favor and look around please take a moment to look around because what you see are the many that make up our one thank you so much [Applause] so uh ni I'd like to award you the Legends award and you also have certificates of commendation from the county clerk and the County Board of Commissioners [Applause] thank you so [Applause] much oh and by the way two minutes [Applause] how you can get lessons from B white [Music] [Applause] this award goes to so Nick I've got this thing in my brain it's like a filing card system someone says a word and I have a joke for it so Nick said Vanna White Vanna White was selected by the American Society of gastroenterology to be their spokesperson do you know why they love the way she moves her vowels so my I'm sorry if I laugh at my own jokes but that's one thing keeps me happy uh Richie El well Richie wave look over there Richie that's Richie he's the chief money man of Complete Care he keeps us fiscally sound and Richie has just informed me that our 5050 is up to the winner taking home almost $1,200 and I think that's too small so we need to get help from every table I want every table over here to buy at least one more ticket for the 50 50 to so that we can take out3 to $5,000 home tonight oh has everyone put their tickets in for the raffle items does anyone want to hurry up and buy a couple of raffle tickets because otherwise we're going to pick our first raffle item now I see some people moving to the back give them a minute [Music] so our first rle item is a basket of gift cards and lottery tickets we are trying to encourage and support our local businesses so many of the local businesses have given us gift cards and we also have lottery tickets and we thank all of those who have contributed to this so I'm going to ask for the basket to be brought up oh people are still buying tickets Richie are we ready right I'm going to ask Mr Nick ASO to pick a ticket for the first winner she's coming up this way someone got she got sidetracked [Music] roll out the barrel CH it good okay yes we are oh wait wait wait wait wait this is this is [Laughter] drink okay call okay and the winner is 0 3 5 0 0 4 1 who St that ticket he we got a winner come on up uh and is going to award this to our winner come on up no no no she'll come here we got to take a picture with all [Music] than so that was great so we are now thrilled to honor our second Cumberland County legend for this year Miss Jane [Music] Christie and to see to say a few words for Miss Jane we're going to welcome her daughter Rebecca Christie Rebecca [Applause] can you hear me that good how's that that's probably good that looks good yeah thank you hi good evening everyone my name is Rebecca Christie and I'd like to thank you all for being here this evening and a warm welcome and congratulations to all of this year's honor re you can hear me oh you're very soft maybe hold it hold it close to your mouth you're very soft thr it again you got to swallow the [Music] mic hi good evening everyone my name is Rebecca Christie I'd like to thank you all for being here tonight and a warm congratulations to all of this year's honores I'm here to welcome a true legend of Cumberland County my mom Jane Christie I've known Jane for well over 50 years no 39 okay 39 39 years yeah she's always been an honest and fair woman she speaks from her heart and her mind and is not afraid to share her ideas and thoughts she respects herself enough to stand up for herself the causes she believes in and the welfare of others she has always strived to create a positive environment for herself her family and others by developing a sense of balance aside from her busy schedule of board memberships and volunteering over the years along with working Jane also brings fun into our lives in her spare time she still enjoys gardening playing Bridge reading cruising growing butterflies her family her friends and shopping with me Mom you raised me to be strong and to give and get respect I never had to look too far when I needed someone to look up to thank you for being the perfect role model to me I feel fortunate to have been able to share you with many people over the years you've always been the greatest gift in my entire life you're the best I love [Applause] you I love you and I'm so proud to call you mom please welcome Jane chrisy [Applause] I always tell Becky that she's the best she's the best mom she's at the best of everything thank you Becky for your thought thoughtful words thank you each and everyone for this most prestigious honor it's good to be with friends believe me when I say I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd ever be considered a legend [Laughter] how can I express how I feel someone once said none of us is as good as one can be and ought to be but I hope I can say I am better today than yesterday but not as good as I expect to be tomorrow perhaps by the grace of God an octogenarian that's me how do you live to be an octogenarian when I think back back to my past activities and involvements I think about the late Joyce banman she was my dear friend the Atlantic City Press news reporter and I would not have done half as much without her if something needed to be done in the city she would call me and say Jane there's this treay that needs to be saved or Jane third wood Rd wood school and Gladis McGraw needs this or that Joy made you think it was a matter of life or death she made a difference of many improvements in milville as many of you know just asked mayor Jim Quinn seriously I have had many people guarding my back and making sure I was on the right track I cannot continue without mentioning my parents my dad Jim Yetman former Freeholder and mayor of Briton who always urged me to serve willingly my mother Ruth Yetman made sure I was making making the right decisions I didn't always my husband Matt Christie supported everything I became involved in he actually made a big difference in our city but in a quiet way I've been fortunate to had a wonderful family my brother Jim Yetman who is too ill to be here tonight grandparents aunts uncles and cousins my in-laws who have passed away Paul and felma Christie my brother-in-law Paul Christie and I cannot finish without mentioning the very wonderful friends over the years and several are here tonight as I call your names I'd like for you to stand in addition to my daughter Rebecca my family members include my son-in-law John webstein please stand John he's a he's a wonderful firefighter so he needs a round of applause for for the work he does my granddaughters Lindsay and Jonna wetstein my granddaughter's other grandmother and John's mother Louise Jones we call her Weezy Patrick Reynolds of Christy funel home and my dear friend who has traveled from Corning New York to be here Jerry fch I'd also like to introduce my friends who have supported me through thick and thin Barbara Scutter stand up Barbara Kathy Bennett and my bridge Partners Nancy Cal Diane McCarthy Bruce garton candy and Rick Graham thank you all for coming I want I want you to know Bruce told us that he was buying a new suit so he could come tonight I love it he used to be my neighbor so we kid around a lot finally many thanks to the Complete Care Organization along with a Christy funeral home for recognizing my work and accomplishments I'm grateful beyond words thank [Applause] you and the proclamations pran [Applause] [Music] ready so now we are ready for our second raffle draw this is four tickets to the Dodgers at the Phillies game on Thursday July 11th parking included and Miss Christie is going to help us pick the winner roll it on roll [Music] it rolling on the Coan R I got two oh buy one get one free 53 o and the winner is 03 5 Z 0 3 5 oh my God you don't deserve this donated back wow thanks a lot wow wow you get four tickets come on come on on let's get a picture here and the winner is our Legend Paul [Applause] Richard gold Phillies gold [Applause] Phillies say something we have uh three great Legends here tonight and I think we're really blessed to have them as of our community and we welcome to the group of Legends thank you thank you Paul enjoy your game go Phillies uh anybody else wants to buy 50/50 tickets Richie what's the number now 5050 give it to it's it's more than what I said before I don't remember how much you said and our final hory tonight is as I said the one and only only Jodi H come on let's give her a standing [Applause] ovation and Jody will be introduced by Mr Ed Bowman who I am told I'm told is her husband yeah uh good evening everyone and uh I want to thank on behalf of Jody everyone who came out and responded to my repeated texts and emails was obviously successful um I am Ed Bowman I'm Jody's husband and um I got to tell you have a problem with the whole thing so Paul rard is a legend he just won the basket and he's also my boss Larry pepper who's a legend is his boss I serve on the guidance center board with Larry and now my wife is a legend so imagine the conversation at home hey it's raining you got to take the dog out why do I need to do that cuz I'm a legend and you're not so despite that we'll persevere so I have um been I'm here tonight really not as jud's husband but as a 20year witness and companion on her amazing journey to become a [Music] legend um in your booklet excuse me there's a definition of a legend I kind of have my own one is stories not how many stories you can tell but how many stories are told about you and there are literally thousands of jod stories right and um and you probably heard many of them here tonight you also need a lot of friends to tell those stories and tonight proves that jod has a lot of friends in fact she has a table of friends from grade school and C Regional now that's a that's a pretty crazy bunch and it's um and and you know that because they actually have shaer roads like Claire Miller is a chaero and and pauln and they're not allowed they're 55 years old they're not allowed without chaperons and then she has a grov from Westchester her College friends many of whom have driven uh hours one flu here to be here and but I found out today the reason why she came is because they keep track of who misses their G togethers and they get a poop emoji next to their name so Michelle stand up she flew in from Florida and has never gotten a [Applause] pooji um in fact there are people here from all stages of of and phases of Jody's life banking colleagues from Farmers and Merchants Bank Sun Bank Colonial Bank Ocean First senty uh Dave hemple is here uh who Jody worked with uh just one of the finest men you'll ever meet and also Carol muso who's been Jody's partner of crime [Applause] forever um from kermal County government where Jody spent a couple of years in fact in the room tonight are four of Jody's former bosses and her current boss M McCormack who is our boss and forers of Merch bank Ed GCA at Colonial and ocean first Dave hle at Century Darlene Barber who was a Freeholder director the last year that Jody worked for the county and Hugh mcaffrey her current boss is with a table of Southern New Jersey steel and MAA property here and then the nonprofits that she's worked with over the years in spir CCT Tech uh Rome College of South Jersey World development The Guidance Center the Japanese American Civil League which is way in the back but very very dear to Jo's are Big Brothers Big Sisters and of course Complete Care and then there's the charitable and Civic organizations the rotary both violent and Bron the stimus Kanas and even though she is not allowed to be a member of the uh Club that's son a club the Maxwell Club because she's the wrong gender they're here tonight so and then of course her all her close families and friends throughout her life it's remarkable to me that she continues to make new friends while maintaining her old friends very difficult to do once you get to a certain part of the lake a legend needs a positive purpose in life that's bigger than themselves jodies has always been to make her community a better place through economic and community community development and it's a cliche but I'm I can tell you she's never been driven by money unfortunately every professional decision she's made has been made made with this overriding purpose and really her whole journey was inspired by the success story that is her parents excuse me they were forced from their home in California into internment camps during World War II um after the interment camps were closed the Hara and okamoto families arrived along with thousands of other Japanese Americans in cook in Upper Deerfield Township with literally nothing but the clothes on their backs they faced hardship and discrimination but they persevered through hard work and thrived um they were deeply appreciative for the opportunities that our community this community provided them and having met them and spent many hours with them and there's uh many Japanese Americans in the room tonight their philosophy was life's hard it's not fair complaining get you nowhere just work harder and make it [Music] [Applause] better and that's in fact what we did we have a joke um Jody's sister brother-in-law and her niece Katie are here tonight is a Japanese B is an A minus the only the only symbol after a is acceptable is a plus anything else you just keep working um Jody started her career at Farmers and Merchants Bank and I don't know how many of you were old enough to remember that bank but it was the epitome of a Community Bank uh the McCormack family were the principles of the bank and they instilled in jod um a deep sense and understanding that econom iic development and Community Development were flip sides of the same coin you can't have one without the other the McCormack family encouraged Jody to channel her obviously Boundless Energy into Community Development she threw herself into the JC's where she was mentored by Gary Zimmerman another Legend uh God Rest his soul and another banker there she met Carol muso uh the late Mike Harris and many many projects uh that helped the community in fact that JC's was a dynamic force that I don't know that we've seen since there she transitioned to the Briton Chamber of Commerce where with Tony stanion and others work to make that organization uh the fin organization it uh it is today but you don't become a legend without a challenge and when Farmers and Merchants was merged Jody found a new job at SunBank we have some SunBank folks here tonight and sun was different it was a growing aggressive Regional Bank pressure packed culture of achievement Diane sacko is over there somewhere nodding her head um and there she found another Mentor a legendary Banker Bart stezy alley some of you may remember um who knew parent who knew Jody's parents knew that they were Japanese and taught her how to pretend to be half Italian in Hamilton so she could get business there she learned how to be competive to have sharp elbows and to win her competitions um Jody's a bit superstitious so um there's always a myth behind a legend but this story actually happens to be true one day Jody was going to a real estate closing and her she had a flat tire so Bart e allei came to rescue her trade cars take her car to get a new tire so she could continue to the closing when he had the tire up the car up on the lift he found found pictures of Jody's competitors tap to the Treads of the tires so if you've ever had a difficult discussion with Jody and you feel like you've been run over you have so after son Jody year to go back to community Banking and she went to uh Colonial bank and work with Eda who's in the room tonight we have a big Colonial Bank contingent tonight and there she really found her groove Colonial Bank was all in on Community Development they had a Visionary president a great uh chairman and Frank henkins who was then replaced by an even greater chairman Al fringer and they moved that bank into the future with a dynamic board Rich Allen who was here tonight Jim Quinn who was here tonight Hugh mcaffrey who's here tonight and the legend Paul Ritter who's here tonight and they were special days uh those of you remember Colonial Bank was everywhere every place involved with every organization and that's really where she cut her teeth on um a community involvement and every uh Legend also needs a superpower Jody's superpower is her amazing memory um she uh remembers what you said when you said it what you were wearing when you said it and if you were eating what you ate when you said it and anyone who's had Jody as an employee or a coworker knows that that is uh that is a difficult thing to do but one of the things she used her amazing memory for at Colonial Bank was to become a stalker so the way that Jody would get business is she knew where everybody eat she would memorize where if you had a pattern so if Stephen Patty barcy ate at Larry Steiner on Tuesday night and she wanted to get his business somehow now she's showed up and Larry's D and she had it for dozens and dozens of people uh she would hang out at diners and she found out that a lot of business people you know and I think aler is one of them like to get a quick bite at a diner and she would make customers and more importantly she would make a lots of friends at Colonial bank she developed a tremendous business following um with her virtually obsessed of customer service returning phone calls 24/7 many interrupted meals many cold meals that I had a huge Bank of professionals doctors veterinarians um and farmers and business people all and churches Jody became known as the church lady she learned how to uh Finance churches and had a huge following among the black churches in particularly in the Bron area um they became an amazing source of business and um developed incredible friendships out of those relationships one of her more famous friendships is um her lunch in friendship with Pastor Morgan at Union Baptist Church which developed because there was literally no room in the diner and they were forced to sit with each other and now they eat breakfast once a month for the last 30 years or so um fundraising Jody is um a legendary fundraiser um she's known for her big top fundraisers uh the county has talent um the voice of viin uh dancing with the county Stars which we did for years um they were huge fundraisers in fact for many years every night I would just ask you know am I getting fed what do I wear do I have to sell 50/50 tickets and is John Stan young going to be there because car would be there and John and I would would sit lonely in the back of the room while they work their own uh there's just so many other things to say about Jody's incredible uh life as a banker and and Community involvement she was on the planning board on the historic Commission in Upper Deerfield the C County Economic Development board for decades and I could go on her last job was Ocean First Japanese movie oh yes okay so the last uh her last job was at Ocean First uh which was a new challenge she was actually developing um a new Legend in Kate May and Atlantic counties working for Ocean First and um meeing a whole group of new people again reunited with edala and uh then she got a diagnosis um that was very serious and life altering uh when she continues to battle today so when we got that diagnosis one day late in two 2018 we were driving home from Cooper hospital and I don't know what any of you would do if you got that type of a diagnosis I know what I would do what Jody did was remarkable she called a customer back not any customer a very difficult demanding well-resourced commercial Loan customer who was angry and she talked to that customer at length all the way home solved that customer's problem and that customer is no longer a customer she's a friend and Jody would do that time and time again so the next thing she did after the diagnosis is decided to take what she called a desk job which was to become the deputy County Administrator for kland County hardly a desk job but when she took it she had Ken the couch who had been there for years Kim wood who had been there for years Ken retired um and then the thing called covid Hit and then we were back to the 247 craziness um that was her banking life you know times 10 um she was on the phone constantly with this guy named Curtis Edwards that she'll talk about a little bit with regard to co um so in some I going to tell you that there's really nothing that Jody can't do when she puts her mind to it she has Boundless Energy um she's 100% dedicated now she's working with humac Caffery and she's doing a lot of work at the shore mamora um Summers Point Ocean City um and what I find is now she is well known in that area and no one ever remembers my name when we go any place they all know jod so in Jody fashion she says Ed in Ocean City you look like just every other white guy how many Japanese people are there in Ocean City that's why they remember me so with that Jerry would you come on up [Applause] [Music] please I [Applause] thank you Ed as you can see Ed has been my support th% for the past 20 years he's spent my constant and I thank you all to my family my friends and my past and current car workers and my um past customers who are attending tonight um a lot of uh the people are here tonight I didn't find out until last week that they were attending to me so I thank you all for coming out and supporting me I want to do a big shout out to Carol muso and Christy D lonardo for their friendship and all that they do and helping out Larry pepper called us the Three Amigos so that's what y by Ed calls us the Dream Team so we sit on the sidelines and we do what we got to do to make fundraisers happen and make attendance happen so I thank you all for coming tonight and I want to give a shout out to Jean Bassa she did an awesome job tonight and she did a lot of hard work on her own 5:00 in the morning till I don't know what hours of the night so I think she's still here so I thank you [Applause] J I'm honored to be recognized tonight by Complete Care with Jane and Nick and I wanted uh to share with you early on my parents raised us to live a purposeful life with a lot of passion and if you do that that you find joy in whatever you do and the joy that I found is community involvement and making an impact on people and I did this through the membership in the various service clubs I belonged to and the various boards that I sat on for economic development growth and I was able to serve the community through my two career paths through Banking and as a public servant for the county of Cumberland County as a deputy County Administrator and I Ser I I strong L did it serving the taxpayers and presidents of Cumberland County I want to share with you how Complete Care was involved with both of my career paths and I'm a True Believer in Complete Care you know a lot of people don't know a lot about Complete Care but I'm going to share with you tonight my Partnerships and the collaborations I had with Complete Care in banking I found my passion in teaching financial literacy in schools and senior centers and the banks were required by The Regulators to do CRA and that stands for Community reinvestment act and it's where the financial institutions had to go into low to monitary income areas and basically do lending and do banking Community Education in these areas that they were were doing business in and so I thought we had to do it better than just doing the schools and senior centers so I met Gil Waters through Evert Marino we all used to go to Dills to do happy hour and right local people just ended up at Dills and I met Gil Waters who was new and he was eager to have new friends so I became Gil's friends right Gil I don't know where right so Gil and I um cross path many times through leadership I became your bus Buddy lost you many times but let you be who you are right and but Gil introduced me to Curtis Edwards and other people from Complete Care and we decided to do financial and health literacy so what we would do is we would educate the the individuals about education and resources is about financial literacy and health literacy and not just teaching them how to reconcile a checkbook and how to do those things we taught them how to do tax appeals we taught them how to make sure that they had the right car insurance coverage or home insurance coverage and unfortunately I drug Ed into those programs so when we did these programs we did them at night Friday nights right weekends and so we had no light but this was was it and Curtis Edwards at that time wor for Gil so he would show up and he would steal my show every single time so Ed would do the insurance we would do real estate we would show them how to save and do all of that but Cur would show up to show them how to save on pharmaceutical drugs how to utilize Right Care Health and the shop rates and how to save money on dental care so what Curtis would do is he would show they would bring in their prescriptions he would show them how to travel throughout kerland County and how to get prescription drugs at no cost or low cost and use raate Aid um right Health Care at shop rates at nights and the weekends so you save time and money so you're not taking off from work and you're not using the emergency care right cuz these people can't afford to use the emergency rooms and then dental care a lot of people had dental care but it doesn't cover you for root canals and nonrelated other extensive care so Curtis and I and other representatives of Complete Care would do this and the churches and we decided a better Avenue to reach the low to Moder income households but then I started going out and telling people how if you have real Healthcare you can go there so then the bank employees now are going to shop right to get their health care you can get lowcost antibiotics and get low cost or no cost prescriptions and all that so we formed a relationship and so I wanted everybody to know that's how we started how I started the relationship with Complete Care and then Co hit and I made a career change and I went to the county to go to work and so Complete Care became my true partner and during this time V I don't know if you guys remember early on vaccination she couldn't get test kits she can get vaccinations so I worked with Megan Shephard who's here tonight our County Health officer and Megan and I we worked hard to educate people disseminate information to work with the municipalities to make sure that everybody was kept safe because at that time I was also the public information officer Megan and I went through a training class with the state just one training class where a fake pandemic happens and then she called me up in early February and said that pandemic is happening at that point when I worked for the county I didn't only dealt with hepc I've dealt with like a little bit of health issues I'm like oh we're going to put this plan into place and that's what Megan and I did and we took it seriously the two of us 24/7 we worked but we needed assistance from working with our partners we worked with the fent health department but Complete Care came through for us and that's how we did the drive-thru testing for covid testing and we did vaccinations and we couldn't have done it without Complete Care another thing that complete did care did during that time is the Farms had to harvest their crops who was going to pick all the crops so Complete Care went out with their mobile unit and they went and tested all of the people and I think um Tom Shepard and Patty Shepard are here tonight and we had the conversation that we would make covid uh Farm Workers fields and we would make non-co farm worker fields and that's how we got through Co and I know it sounds crazy we kept everybody safe everybody was tested people got vac inations our crops got picked because in Cumberland County we're very populated with farms and nurseries so for the economic part of it we partner with Complete Care to make sure that that all happened and so I want to thank the four people at Complete Care that I worked with one was Curtis Edwards and Megan Cher Curtis Edwards whenever I called him I would start the conversation with I have have a problem and he would say back to me whatever you need I would call him at 11:00 at night 6:00 in the morning and whatever I said I have a problem he would say whatever you need and Megan Spinelli was the government relations person but she was more than that and I can tell you whatever problem that I had she took care of she said no problem and I was assured that she would take care of it and I call him Richie Rich right so rich well he took care of all the contracts the financial stuff to make sure that the county was doing what they had to do with the grants and using the art funds the way that we needed to the other person I'm sad to say car Pope I worked with whenever I needed a covid test done and this was during the time it was hard to get a covid test done she would say I'll get him in by today they need to show up at this site Carla passed away because of Co but I got to tell you she was an awesome awesome nurse right and for the Complete Care of family it was a big [Applause] [Music] loss so I share these stories with you because I'm a big believer in Complete Care because without their partnership and collaboration that they worked with the county we wouldn't have gotten through the pandemic and I think Megan Sheard would agree and I've never been able to publicly thank Megan shepher but she's here tonight and she's our County Health officer and I want to tell you she is the coolest calmest she's the most gracious person that you'd ever meet the smartest person and she's our County Health officer that led us through the pandemic and I thank you for all the work that you did 24/7 she had a family she had two young kids and no matter when I called her and it was crazy time times I would call her numerous times throughout the night and day but there was only one time and I thought this was funny I wanted to share with you that she kind of lost her cool she was in the supermarket and I called her and I said Megan she goes wait a minute Jody I'm at the supermarket I need to check out she wanted two packets of chicken and the cashier wouldn't let her have it she goes you're only glad to have one packet she you understand I'm the county health officer I'm really busy I just need two packets and at the end I said what happened she goes I only got one packet of chicken but I got to tell you I never realized the importance of a County Health officer and tie wor for the county so I wanted to share that story with you and there's many more that the Complete Care does just besides prescription saving money and doing all that they do dental care you know a lot of people have dental insurance but they don't realize it doesn't cover the root canals it doesn't cover the other things and they have programs to be able to assist the community and what they do and the other thing that I wanted to just um besides thanking all the individuals I just want to say you know Complete Care kudos to them for being our partnership in the community for the unserved and the underserved and the people with insurance and I just thank you for all the programs that you have and what you do and that's why I'm honored to receive this award because I believe in what you do and the passion that you [Applause] [Music] have so go out and make an impact in your community make a difference in someone's life and find your joy and I just want to read this thing Laura bonad Onis here tonight she made a posting a a week ago and a lot of people make postings but this one kind of hit home to me she made a posting that said choose Joy don't wait for things to get easy simpler or better life will always be complicated learn to be happy right now otherwise you will run out of time thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] in the backround [Music] [Applause] what picture Legends in of the room here here you go Dr WRA this when you're ready okay oh yeah R black [Music] now [Music] just just just leave that there for now so J that one that's out sock this one I I I thought I could read this upside down but it's 03 5 who all have that 035 followed by 0 0 08 for a huge basket of cheer [Applause] who's the winner oh my gosh wow confirm the agent 08 James congratulations very heavy so she's only two or three men to help her carry that basket of Boo out of this room thank you now hey folks if I can have your attention we were going to call the 50/50 at this point but I think we need to sell some more tickets because Richie tells me that we are up to 1,265 we're not going to pick it up we want to sell a few more tickets anyone wants some more tickets 1,265 mobile going to be like 1,300 so I'm going to I'm going to call I'm going to pick the winner of the uh 50/50 after the next segment so folks if I can have your attention hello ladies and gentlemen our future depends on supporting the next generation of medical professionals and leaders this year our foundation board has decided to initiate an annual scholarship program which will utilize funds raised by us this is something brand new we're going to Grant several educational scholarships of up to $110,000 now you heard of scholarships of50 you know $500 $1,000 we are raising the anend so we're going up to $10,000 these scholarships are aimed at assisting deserving students from our communities to pursue careers in healthcare such as becoming nurses nurses and nursing and dental assistants physic assistants or even further their careers even becoming Healthcare administrators we are excited to announce that this truly ambitious meaningful and impactful scholarship program which we believe will definitely contribute to improving the health well-being andam of our local communities with your continued support we're confident that we will be able to expand the number of scholarships in the future folks please quiet hello everybody this is important our first group of scholarships will be presented at next year's Legends event and we hope each and every one of you will be able to join us to celebrate our awardees I would now like to thank our previous Foundation director Mr Nik Rizo Niko there he is in the back he's a member of the bar he did a wonderful job for the foundation including working on tonight's event so I'm delighted to announce and welcome so Nico is leaving us and I'm really delighted to announce and welcome our New Foundation director Mr Joe [Music] [Applause] Cortez and Joe's going to take over in about 2 weeks so please join me in welcoming Joe who our uh our search committee had these comments about this candidate he's young good-looking enthusiastic knowledgeable bilingual sympathic and a go-getter so welcome Joe say a few [Applause] words ladies and gentlemen how are we doing today my name is Joe Cortez um it's been a long night I everybody wants to go home a lot of food so I'll keep this short um I just want to congratulate the legends today and the ones before Once a Legend always a Legend um it's because of people like you and people in this room that make us who we are that have gotten us to where we needs to be and where we want to be without your change or your inspiration you dare to dream people like Gil and Curtis who've gotten us where we are like I said none of this would happen without you guys all I can do is hope and pray and and and aspire to be bigger better do things and keep the m and going um thank you guys have a good [Applause] [Music] [Applause] night so before we clo close i' just like to say the last few words on behalf of the board of complete cares Family Health Foundation I would like to acknowledge and express how incredibly grateful and thankful I am for the amazing teams I don't say team its teams it was the foundation people it was our Legends team it was the Complete Care man management team everybody helped him some way or the other it's amazing but our Legends event was organized by the team leaders Debbie Greenberg deut please stand Erin Mendes who's up there with the bucket and Jean Caron I call these I think some of you have noticed my tie but I call these folks the DNA of the legends they hold the information that allows us to replicate every year and to evolve based on the surroundings such as during covid we actually had a video Legends program which was extremely successful and people took home food from Eastland and we all sat together eating our food and we watched the Legends at home on our video you know our computer screens so that's what I call by modifying and evolving but these are the folks that are the DNA that helped us do that so our organizing team is of course mentioning your booklets and once again the the the programs that we support are also on the back cover of your program booklet and you can see how many thousands of people your generous contributions have helped serve so folks let's call the uh 50/50 now we are up to uh let's see uh Rich Richie Elwell tells me we're up to 1,260 5 for the winner and Miss Erin would you like to say something before you put pick the ticket Erin Mendes is going to reach into the bucket and pick the winner and the winner is 074 35 9 7 [Music] say it again number 07435 97 [Applause] so ticket so she's so folks hasn't been hasn't this been a wonderful event I would once again like to thank each and every one of you for all your kind generous and enthusiastic support I would like to ask for a round of applause for all our Legends including our three new ones for all their love and dedication and all all they've done for our community thank you hope to see you all next year good night God bless and drive safely [Applause] [Music] heart of the farmlands of Bridgeton New Jersey there is a company that has its roots deep in history spending over 175 years the Cumberland Insurance Group Stands Strong and proud protecting the lives and properties of over 100,000 policy holders 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