The Power of Us Awards recognize individuals who have made an exceptional impact on the communities where they live and work through their commitment to volunteerism.
Our well-deserving 2023 winners were selected by a cross-functional review committee and will receive a $1,000 donation to the charity of their choice through the Power of Us program.
Learn more about the impact our winners made within their communities below.
Meet the 2023 Power of Us Award winners, selected for their exceptional commitment to volunteerism, community leadership, and personal integrity
Ron Carr, Executive Pharmaceutical Sales Specialist, Biopharmaceutical Business Unit
Ron volunteers with the International Learning Center of Jacksonville, FL to teach English as a Second Language (ESL). Along with his wife Kim, they founded the organization for 24 years ago, reaching over 8,000 students from 143 nations. He has helped write a complete ESL curriculum with 12 copyrights that is used on 5 continents, 18 countries and 26 states. Along with being a teacher, he helps with building maintenance and provides security and conducts fundraising efforts.
With a 4-decade career in the pharmaceutical industry, Ron has spent more than half of that career volunteering with the International Learning Center. Using humor and compassion, “Mr. Ron” has taken preliterate students from learning the alphabet to basic functional English in a year. Thanks to Ron for his tireless efforts!
Sarah Levendusky – Statistical Programmer II, Respiratory & Immunology
Sarah is a mentor to young kids at Community Bridges in Maryland. Community Bridges is an organization that empowers girls from diverse backgrounds to become exceptional students, positive leaders, and healthy young women. As a mentor, Sarah conducts weekly video calls with her mentees, plays video games or invites them to her home to try new recipes. She took one mentee to Hershey Park this summer to not only enjoy the rides and food, but to learn budgeting time and money and to learn how to read a GPS. She also provides tutoring for homework and conducts skill-building exercises with the girls.
She has been called an outstanding mentor, teammate and leader, working as a culture champion and a leader with her local community garden. Sarah shows her commitment to bettering the world by actively seeking out ways to improve her community.
Sonya Estes – Precision Medicine Manager, Oncology
For the past seven and half years, Sonya has spent much of her time volunteering at Children’s Path, a private orphanage in Ukraine. Children’s Path provides resources, relocation services and in-person support, including supplies, social development and care to orphans in desperate need of safety, shelter, food, clothing, and most importantly - love and healing. She not only hosts children in her home in here in the States, but she travels to Ukraine to provide her guidance, support and love to the children first-hand. Sonya works to secure resources for the organization and supports Childrens Path through providing food, clothing, books, toys and other necessities.
Sonya’s passion for these children is obvious and her colleagues say she is always seeking new ways to help others. When the war started, she traveled to Ukraine to help children evacuate into Poland and this was done quietly and without fanfare. We thank Sonya for her inspirational work and celebrate the positive impact she has had on innocent children from Ukraine and the world around her.
Lori Giampaolo – Executive Oncology Account Specialist, Breast
Lori Giampaolo has been volunteering at Fox Chase Cancer Center since 2021 as a way of giving thanks to an organization who helped her through her own cancer diagnosis in 2018. She is passionate about her work with the volunteer committee, formally known as the Board of Associates (BOA), and consists of a group of dedicated volunteers who raise funds and awareness for FCCC.
Her most prominent work is related to a community event, PAWS FOR THE CAUSE, where she has served as Chair since 2021. Paws for the Cause is an annual dog walking event and brings together those impacted by cancer while also raising money for cancer research and community programs. PAWS draws in hundreds of patients and families and their four-legged friends in a fun fill day of dog-walking and activities. In this role, Lori is an integral member of the planning team and a lead fundraiser, whose team has won first place four times!
Lori’s impact has a lasting effect on the community. In 2023, FCCC was able to use the money raised from last year’s Paws for the Cause to fund several critical projects, including a mobile screening unit which was recently deployed in October of this year. Funds were also used to support research including a kidney cancer vaccine and two postdoctoral fellows working on liver and kidney cancer initiatives.
Lori’s ability to able to take her own challenging life event and channel it as a motivator to be a difference maker for many around her has made a huge difference in her community.
Craig Snyder – Senior Application Engineer
Craig Snyder is a dedicated volunteer with the organization he founded in 2013, ChesCo Search Dogs, an emergency response organization that provides volunteer K9 handlers and K9 dogs to assist with searches for missing persons. They work with police, fire, park rangers and natural resource officers to search for missing people. Team members and their dogs respond to emergency calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Craig spends much of his personal and vacation time as a Chief and volunteer with the organization; close to 900 hours in 2023! Including 100 hours on emergency searches, 190 hours of team training, 36 hours doing demonstrations at PR events, and 24 hours at seminars in Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, Florida and Pennsylvania.
In March 2023, Craig’s personal dog Mica was certified by the National Association for Search and Rescue Association (NASAR) as an air scent Level II live find search dog. Craig and Mica have already participated in 15 searches in the seven months they’ve been deployable. They are now working towards cross-certification as a human remains detection dog. Coca is Mica’s younger sister and is currently still in training. ChesCo Search Dogs is now one of the largest teams in the state with the most certified number of K9’s.
Lissangela De Leon – Business Support Coordinator
Lissangela’s philanthropic efforts are well-known by her colleagues, family and friends! She gives her time and energy to the International WeLoveU Foundation, an organization whose work primarily revolves around humanitarian and social activities that have a positive impact on various communities around the world. The organization has partnered with the United Nations to achieve 17 sustainability development goals, organizing clean-ups and drives for people around the world to access basic necessities. Lissangela plays a crucial role in the organization's success by providing leadership in various capacities, from project management to advocacy and mentoring.
Lissangela inspires her colleagues to donate, coordinating the collection and distribution of 400 backpacks as well as food and clothing drives at work. She is also active in the DC metro area with blood drives and clean-up activities. Her colleagues say Lissangela is passionate and dedicated to giving back to her community and to helping people.