Heart of Buffalo Grove awards presented at gala

Heart of Buffalo Grove awards were presented to winners Saturday night at a gala at the Arboretum Club.

The Buffalo Grove Area Chamber of Commerce and co-sponsor Buffalo Grove Bank & Trust announced the winners in advance of the event.

The winners were:

Ÿ Above & Beyond Award/Continued Community Involvement: Steve Rusin, firefighter/paramedic, is a volunteer of the Pink Heals Campaign.

Ÿ Above & Beyond Award/Heroism: Brothers Ken and Daniel Hechtman rescued people from burning vehicles on the Edens Expressway while driving home from their Skokie restaurant April 21.

Ÿ Business Philanthropy Award: Dave Becker, owner of Wheeling Auto Center in Arlington Heights, who among other causes, raises money for the National MS Society and runs an art contest for seven local schools.

Ÿ Community Volunteer Award: Mike Brown, among other causes, assists his neighbors by providing companionship to shut-ins and helping with repairs and projects inside and outside their homes.

Ÿ Senior Volunteer Award: Jane Sherlock, among other causes, has organized the collection of several thousand cellphones for homeless and domestic abuse victims.

Ÿ Teach & Inspire Award: Andrew Conneen, a teacher at Stevenson High School, for nine years lobbied to get the “Suffrage at 17” law passed, allowing 17-year-olds to vote in primary elections if they will be 18 by the time of the general election. It takes effect on Jan. 1.

Ÿ Together We Can: The BG Days Committee is a group composed of nearly 60 Buffalo Grove residents and business people who volunteer their time to run the village’s biggest event — BG Days.

Ÿ Youth Volunteer Award: Alex Randell is a fifth-grader whose older brother has a rare neurological disease. Alex went to Bethesda, Md., to tell his brother’s story and plead for government funding.