716.684.8400

About the Leadership Council Committee

Helping those who face isolation, despair and serious illness is a noble mission. Gifts to our Annual Friends Appeal support ongoing resident care initiatives at The GreenFields Continuing Care Community’s skilled care homes. Each year a team of volunteers called the Leadership Council Committee meets to assist in the personal solicitation of new and renewing benefactors. All donors who make an annual gift of $500 or more are granted Leadership Council status and are entitled to special recognition opportunities, including our Benefactors Reception. Donors who make an annual gift of at least $500 and also ask others to do the same are entitled to become members of the Leadership Council Committee.

Thanks to your wonderful generosity, our 2023 Leadership Council fundraising campaign was another record-breaker! Our 2023 campaign total came to $1,109, 668, which is a new Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation Leadership Council campaign record. This total exceeds our 2022 Leadership Council campaign total of $1,091,296 by $18,000, for an increase over 2022 of 1%.

2023 was the fourth record Leadership Council campaign total in the last five years, and our 2023 total exceeded the $1 million mark for the second year in a row. With a 2023 total of over $1.1 million, our collective total for all of our past Leadership Council campaigns now exceeds $11 million. This funding has played a crucial role in support of important resident care initiatives of the Niagara Lutheran Health System. Your compassion and dedication greatly impacts the lives of so many who can no longer provide for themselves, and we simply can’t thank you enough for all you do for Niagara Lutheran!

We are also indebted to our faithful Leadership Council Committee for all of their efforts during this campaign, and thanks also go to the Co-Chairs of our 2023 campaign, Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation Trustee JoAnne Will-Kaminski and Niagara Lutheran Board Member The Rev. Mike Blackwell, for their support.

Our 2023 Leadership Council campaign supported a number of infrastructure improvement projects across The GreenFields campus. Several of these projects were implemented at GreenField Health & Rehabilitation Center, including the refurbishment of patient rooms and the renovation of our aquatic therapy pool. Last year’s campaign also supported an “extreme makeover” of the GreenField Manor, including a redesigned lobby and the addition of our all-new Creekside Bistro. Our 2023 Leadership Council campaign also assisted continuing collaborative efforts with other non-profit senior care providers and the expansion of our Lineage Care Group partnership, which now includes Niagara Lutheran, Schofield Care, and Weinberg Campus.

Your invaluable support enables us to expand our mission and overcome the growing financial challenges that our organization faces every day. For more information on how you can help make our 2024 Leadership Council campaign another successful one, please contact David McMullen, Executive Director of Development & Marketing, by calling 716-684-0202, ext. 1806.

2023 Leadership Council Committee

The Rev. Michael C. Blackwell, Co-Chair
JoAnne R. Will-Kaminski, Co-Chair

Todd C. Anderson
Janet L. Loew Day
Linda A. Dobmeier
Mary F. Dumke
Christopher T. Greene, Esq.
Robert W. Gromer
Cary J. Haller
Roger J. Hoffman
Scott W. Jones
Judith A. Kelly
Gary P. Kenline
Christopher Koenig


Paul F. Kroll
The Rev. Dennis J. Krueger
The Rev. Thomas R. Mason
David E. McMullen
The Rev. Paul R. Mertzlufft
Gail M. Myers
Matthew L. O’Connor
Richard C. Paul
Gerald C. Saxe
Michael C. Straeck
George M. Wallrich
Kevin R. Weber
Edward G. Wright

The Niagara Lutheran Health Foundation is indebted to these previous co-chairs of the Leadership Council Committee:

2023- The Rev. Michael C. Blackwell and JoAnne R. Will-Kaminski
2022 – Rodger J. Hoffman and Joanne Kaminski
2021 – Rodger J. Hoffman and Keven R. Weber
2020 – David N. Richardson and Kevin R. Weber
2019 – Edward Wright and David Richardson
2018 – Edward Wright and Robert Minicucci, Sr.
2017 – Cary J. Haller and Robert Minicucci, Sr.
2016 – Gary Kenline and Cary J. Haller
2015 – Susan Fayle and Gary Kenline
2014 – Janet Loew Day and Susan Fayle
2013 – Janet Loew Day and Trent M. Voelkl
2012 – Donald E. Will
2011 – Michael C. Straeck and Trent M. Voelkl
2010 – Linda A. Dobmeier and Michael C. Straeck
2009 – Linda A. Dobmeier and James M. Sexton III
2008 – James M. Sexton III and Joseph A. Voelkl
2007 – Patricia H. Garman and Howard B. Vahue
2006 – Gerald C. Saxe and Kevin R. Weber
2005 – Christopher T. Greene, Esq., and Gerald T. Mazurkiewicz
2004 – David N. Richardson and Samuel J. Savarino
2003 – Rev. Dr. Charles D. Bang and Henry P. Semmelhack
2002 – Thomas M. Barney, Esq., and Paul J. Koessler
2001 – G. Wayne Hawk and Richard C. Paul
2000 – Charles U. Banta and Edward G. Wright
1999 – Gerald C. Saxe and Robert G. Weber