Herb Higgin, retired director of Safe Harbor After School Enrichment Program, was selected as the recipient of the 6th annual Ned E. Kalb Community Leadership Award, presented at the recent Purdue Extension La Porte County Annual Meeting held at the Silver Palace in La Porte. Herb was presented a plaque and will have his name added to the permanent plaque on display at the Extension Office. The permanent plaque was donated by Dick Reel, who served as the Extension Director for many years.
Herb was recognized as a leader among 21st Century Community Learning Center Programs, helping La Porte county and beyond by bringing his new ideas, passion and commitment to Indiana’s youth. His efforts made the Safe Harbor program a model for other programs around the state. He was nominated for the Kalb Award by a team of community members including Lance Werner, Audra Peterson, Marty Corley, Sherri Silcox and Brenda Bolka. His nominators noted his unique ability to unite the community and bring collaborative partners together for the good of the community. He worked tirelessly to offer programming that ensures the safety and enrichment of students during the before and after school hours and was instrumental in bringing community groups together to form the “Youth Serving Agencies” for new summer camp activities in Michigan City. Throughout his 15 years of service to out-of-school programming, he has touched the lives of thousands of La Porte County students.
The annual leadership award is a partnership between the Purdue Extension La Porte County office and Leadership La Porte County. Ned Kalb served as Extension Director for many years and was a catalyst for the formation of Leadership La Porte County. He died in November 2011, and the award was created soon after to honor his memory. Previous award winners include: Cynthia Hedge (2016), Diana Werner (2015), George & Dory Morley (2014), Dr. James Dworkin (2013) and John Coulter (2012).
“Ned served La Porte County in so many ways. He saw needs and brought people and resources together to solve the challenges, not only locally, but across Indiana and the world,” said Mary Foell, Co- Extension Director. “Ned was a mentor to many and an excellent teacher of community development and leadership,” added Jim Jessup, a volunteer for Leadership La Porte County and coordinator of the judging panel for the award. “Ned, Kathryn Dearborn, and I worked several years together during the planning, organizing, and facilitating of the leadership program,” Jessup said. Monica Komasinski, Executive Director of Leadership La Porte County, stated, “The mission of Leadership LaPorte County and the impact the organization has had on the community is a lasting legacy of Ned Kalb’s vision. We are proud to honor him and to recognize good community leadership with this award.”
Nominations for the next award will be taken beginning in January 2018. For more information contact either the Extension Office or Leadership La Porte County.