Local ‘wavemakers’ recognized for contributions to societal transformation

Rochester, New York – On Thursday, the Rochester-based nonprofit Causewave held its annual “Wavemaker” awards ceremony and fundraising event.
More than 325 changemakers from the charitable, marketing, governmental, and business areas attended the event. According to Causewave, the awards highlight people who make a difference every day and recognize volunteers, businesses, and initiatives.
Kate Pellett, Chief Operating Officer of Causewave, underlined the value of collaboration in her remarks.

“The past few years have taught our community a lot about what it means to come together, to collaborate, to think about how we can best use the amazing resources and assets that we have in this community,” Pellet said. “And that really is what Causewave aims to do every day.”

The Lantern Award, which honors individual volunteerism, was given to Martha Bush. Bush, the Chief Marketing Officer at Foodlink, recently retired.

Reliant, Pittsford, and Summit Federal Credit Union, as part of the Credit Union Collective, were recognized with the Beacon Award for their sustained and significant financial and volunteer support of Causewave.

The W.B. Potter Founder’s Award honors a results-driven collaborative effort that both meets a community need and serves as a model for other alliances, and the AMPED: Go All Electric Coalition was given this honor.

Alyssa Belasco was given the Spark Award, which recognizes a person (age 40 or younger) who has used their volunteer work with Causewave to spark good change. At NY Kitchen, Belasco serves as executive director.

The Chairman’s Award, which recognizes a company that has made outstanding contributions to further Causewave’s purpose, was given to the Greater Rochester Health Foundation.

The Legacy Award, which was established as part of Causewave’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2001 to honor prior Lantern Award recipients who have continued to exhibit outstanding commitment to the organization, was given to John Geraci. CRUX Research’s president is Geraci.

The Advertising Council of Rochester was established in 1950 and later became Causewave Community Partners. Through programs designed to increase nonprofit capacity at the individual nonprofit level and community-level response to a variety of community concerns, from traffic safety to child sexual abuse prevention, they cooperate with over 200 charities each year.