Finalists announced for 2010 Community Leadership Awards

The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and InvestmentNews today announced the finalists for the fourth annual Community Leadership Awards. The awards, which will be presented on Sept. 14, honor financial advisers who make a difference in their communities.

Categories include the Volunteer Team Award, the Mentoring Excellence Award, the Volunteer of the Year Award, the Community Service Award, and – new this year – the Global Community Impact Award.

Awards will be presented in four individual categories and one group category.

In the Community Service category, the adviser finalists are John Hyland of Morristown Financial Group in Morristown, N.J., (broker-dealer: LPL Financial), for his work with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of New Jersey; Randy Lillard of Edward Jones in Memphis, Tenn., for Agape Child & Family Services; and D. Timothy Pinkney, of The Savant Investment Group in Citrus Heights, Calif., (primary custodian: Fidelity) for the Rotary Club of Sacramento.

In the Mentoring Excellence category, the adviser finalists are Linda Haines of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Vancouver, Wash., for the YWIA Vancouver School District Foundation; Steve Lahre of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in San Diego, Calif., for the Academy of Finance in the School of Business at San Diego High School; and William E. Sparks of Merrill Lynch in San Diego, Calif., for Los Angelitos De Encinitas.

In the Volunteer of the Year category, the adviser finalists are Mike Berry of Colorado West Financial Advisors in Grand Junction, Colo. (broker-dealer: Cambridge Investment Research) for Kids Aid; Michelle Brennan Hall of Brennan Financial Services in Dallas, Tx. (broker-dealer: FSC Securities Corp.), for Star Children’s Charity; and R. Mark Shepherd of Shepherd Financial Partners in Winchester, Mass. (broker-dealer: LPL Financial) for AbilityPLUS.

In the group category — for the Volunteer Team Award — the adviser finalists are Joseph De Sena, Mary Terino, and Katie Coleman of De Sena, Terino & Associates in Melville, N.Y. (broker-dealer: Ameriprise Financial Services) for the Michael Magro Foundation; Tony Blauvelt, Janelle Blauvelt, and Sharron Harley of Edward Jones in Arlington, Tx., for the Handley-Meadowbrook Lions Club; and the advisers and team members of North Star Resource Group in Minneapolis, Minn. (broker-dealer: Securian Financial), for the Scott Richards North Star Charitable Foundation.

In the Global Community Impact category, the adviser finalists are Ruth Willingham Lentz of Wells Fargo Advisors in Memphis, Tenn., for the West Tennessee Haiti Partnership; Paul Martel of YHB Investment Advisors of West Hartford, Conn. (primary custodians: Pershing and Schwab), for the YHB Charitable Endowment-Cemedur Fund; and Bob Solis of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney of Surprise, Ariz., for Open Arms Home for Children.

The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation donates $10,000 to the charity designated by each category’s honoree. It will also donate $500 to each of the finalists’ charities.

Proceeds from the awards dinner will go to the Boston-based Invest in Others Charitable Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charity that supports philanthropic and volunteer activities among financial advisers in the United States.

Nearly 300 nominations were received for this year’s Community Leadership Awards. Since 2009, these 15 adviser finalists have personally donated nearly $430 thousand and raised over $1.86 million for their charities, which serve causes such as needy and at-risk children, disease research and awareness campaigns, people with disabilities, community poverty, and Haiti relief.

The awards ceremony will be held at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Keynote speakers will be Sean and Leigh Anne Touhy, the couple that inspired the best-selling book and major motion picture, The Blind Side.