Celebrating Night Out for Neighborhoods
On Thursday, November 10, 2022 we celebrated DeSales Community Development’s 33rd Annual Night Out for Neighborhoods. 150 friends and supporters joined us at SqWires Annex to celebrate community, honor people and organizations making our neighborhoods a better place, and support DeSales ongoing work into the future. We are proud to share that this was DeSales’ most successful fundraiser ever, raising over $55,000! We are so thankful to the staff, board members, supporters, sponsors, and our host, SqWires, for all they did to make this event a success.
Along with appetizers, open bar, and a silent auction featuring 38 exclusive experiences and items, we honored several amazing individuals and organizations. First, we recognized three local St. Louis Aldermen who are stepping down at the end of their term, and who have been incredible supporters of our communities and of DeSales’ work in them. We were grateful to honor Alderman Dan Guenther, Ward 9; Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia, Ward 6; and Alderwoman Annie Rice, Ward 8 (left to right, with DeSales Executive Director, Becky Reinhart).
Then, we presented our Better Neighborhoods Awards, given annually to individuals or organizations working in our communities to make them the best they can be.
The first award of the night was the DeSales Volunteer of the Year Award, presented by DeSales Community Programs Coordinator, Sheltoria Love, to SouthSide Rec volunteer coach, Amanda Ray. Coach Amanda coaches several teams in all three of SouthSide Rec’s sports leagues, and is a mentor and friend to the dozens of youth she coaches each year. SouthSide Rec’s sports programs truly could not happen without Coach Amanda, and she is so deserving of this award.
Mark Groth, Becky Reinhart, Jason Sapp, and Peter Hoffman.
The next Better Neighborhoods Award was presented to Peter Hoffman and Jason Sapp. Peter is the Managing Attorney of Legal Services of Eastern Missouri’s Neighborhood Vacancy Initiative, and Jason is the program’s longest-serving volunteer attorney. Peter and Jason have dedicated hundreds of hours of time to support DeSales’ efforts to transform nuisance vacant properties in our neighborhoods into spaces that are productive and beneficial to the community. Local resident and writer of the St. Louis City Talk blog, Mark Groth, presented this award to Peter and Jason.
The final Better Neighborhoods Award was presented to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7. The EPA’s Region 7 has been a crucial partner in DeSales' effort to clean a severely contaminated long-vacant property in Fox Park. They cleaned up more than 10,000 gallons of hazardous liquid from a site in the middle of the neighborhood, paving the way for DeSales to continue working to clean up and revitalize this property. Representatives from the EPA Region 7 were not able to attend in person, but DeSales Ex Director Tom Pickel presented this award to this amazing partner.
Finally, while we had officially passed the DeSales leadership torch from Tom Pickel to Becky Reinhart at our recent Success & Succession event, we could not pass up the opportunity to honor Tom for his transformative 35 years as DeSales Executive Director. Becky awarded Tom with the first ever Better Neighborhoods Lifetime Achievement Award. Not to be outdone, Aldermen Ingrassia, Rice, and Guenther presented Tom with a resolution from the St. Louis Board of Aldermen honoring Tom’s legacy at DeSales. Nothing we could give Tom could fully sum up his impact on DeSales, our neighborhoods, and the city of St. Louis over the past 35 years, but we were proud to share a token of our gratitude.
We want to thank everyone who was able to attend this heartwarming community event, and we can’t wait to celebrate again next year at the 34th Annual Night Out for Neighborhoods!
