Advisers honored for giving back to communities

The extraordinary commitment of 15 financial advisers to their local and global communities shined last Thursday at the seventh annual Community Leadership Awards in New York. The awards, which include $150,000 donated to the charities that the advisers support, are sponsored by the Invest in Others Charitable Foundation and Investment- News. “Recognition of the philanthropic work that financial advisers are involved in does indeed help those involved — it raises more for important causes and encourages others to get involved,” said Bill Dwyer, chairman of Invest in Others. More than 200 nominations were received for this year's awards.

FIVE HONOREES

Five advisers and their charities were singled out as honorees for $20,000 awards: Bruce E. Fyfe of ProVise Management Group LLC in Clearwater, Fla., received the Community Service Award for the Homeless Emergency Project Inc., which provides housing and food for those in need. Mr. Fyfe and his wife raised $3.4 million to create a 32-unit complex for homeless veterans. Michael J. Swallow of CBIZ Financial Services in Cleveland was named Volunteer of the Year for helping to create the Northeast Ohio Foundation for Patriotism, which helps support military families. Chris Kittrell of Rather & Kittrell Inc. in Knoxville, Tenn., won the Volunteer Team Award for providing poor families in Huntsville, Tenn., with food, clothing and other supplies. The Global Community Impact award was given to Jessica Jones of Edward Jones in The Woodlands, Texas, for Build Your House on the Rock Ministries. Brett W. Hoge of BB&T Scott & Stringfellow in Winston-Salem, N.C., won the Mentoring Excellence Award for his work with Big Brothers Big Sisters (Winston-Salem). [email protected] Twitter: @skinnerliz