Award recipient
The Philadelphia Psychiatry Society presented the Benjamin Rush Award to David A. Dinich, Pottsville, on Nov. 3 at the College of Psychiatrists, Philadelphia. The award is given to a non-psychiatrist who has brought recognition to mental illness/health over the past year.
Dinich is the administrator for the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Leadership Council, a group comprised of community-oriented psychiatrists, along with other stakeholders in the public behavioral health system. The group is succeeding in its mission to recruit and retain more psychiatrists to work in Pennsylvania's rural and under served areas, as well as impact upon those areas that affect access to the best psychiatric services.
Dinich is also president of both the Family Training and Advocacy Center and Forensic System Solutions, both nonprofit organizations, and has worked with NAMI PA and a private child-welfare agency in southwestern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He earned a graduate degree in counseling from Duquesne University, Pittsburgh.
He is the husband of Carol and father of Heather Ann Dinich Dutton.
Gold Award
Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania congratulates Laura Hunyara, Minersville, for earning the Girl Scout Gold Award.
Laura's project was based around the youth building in Llewellyn. She made the camping there a safer experience by rebuilding the fire pit, creating a new entrance for the scout building to let the community know who meets there and putting in new benches. The new facility was made in memory of Ryan Wiscount, a former Boy Scout who passed away a few years ago.
Because of Laura's Gold Award project, the new facility is a safe environment for kids of all ages. By earning the Girl Scout Gold Award, Laura has become a community leader. Her accomplishments reflect leadership and citizenship skills that set her apart.
"The Girl Scout Leadership Experience showed me that I can do whatever I put my mind to," said Laura. "It has taught me to never give up and how to be a great leader throughout the process.
"I learned how to connect with people of all ages. This project has inspired me to help people as often as I can because it has showed me that I can make a big difference in my community."