NELSONVILLE, Ohio –SHAWNEE, Ohio – Athens County resident Sarah Adkins was among seven Appalachian
Ohioans honored as 2026 Jenco Award recipients during an Oct. 8 ceremony hosted by the Jenco Foundation and the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio (FAO) at the Tecumseh Theater.
The Jenco Awards recognize individuals across Appalachian Ohio’s 32 counties who have performed noteworthy community service outside their paid positions. The award recipients, who are nominated by community members, exemplify the difference everyday people can make when they give their time, talent and passion to serve their neighbors and communities.
The 2026 ceremony marked two milestones for the regional awards program: 15 years of partnership between the Jenco Foundation and FAO – and more than 100 Appalachian Ohioans honored for their service.
“This is a significant moment in our partnership and dedication to carrying forward the legacy of Father Lawrence Martin Jenco,” said Michelle Shively MacIver, Jenco Foundation committee member. “Behind these more than 100 Jenco Award recipients are thousands of acts of kindness, courage and selflessness by people who saw a need in their communities and decided they could make a difference. While each of their stories is unique, they all serve as a reminder that everyone has the ability to make life better for others, just as Father Jenco did throughout his life.”
Adkins was honored as the founder and driving force behind a nonprofit pharmacy that became a lifeline for hundreds of Southeast Ohio households. A Southeast Ohio native and pharmacist, Adkins opened Rising Suns Non-Profit Pharmacy in 2021 to provide free, life-sustaining medications to uninsured and underinsured residents across Athens, Hocking, Meigs, Morgan, Perry, Vinton and Washington counties.
Rising Suns served more than 1,000 patients over its five years of operation, helping prevent illness and death by removing cost as a barrier to essential care. Operating almost entirely on grants, donations and volunteers, the pharmacy provided more than $8 million in medication savings and helped ensure that people could get the medications they needed when they needed them.
The Jenco Foundation and the Jenco Awards uphold the legacy of Father Lawrence Martin Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest who dedicated his life to serving others. In 1985, Father Jenco was kidnapped while serving as director of Catholic Relief Services in Lebanon and spent 19 months in captivity. Even in confinement, Father Jenco continued to serve, providing a listening ear for other detainees, including journalist Terry Anderson.
Anderson, who passed away in 2024, founded the Jenco Foundation in 2001 to honor the legacy of his friend, who died in 1996. The Jenco Foundation joined FAO as an endowment in 2011, ensuring that Father Jenco’s legacy would live on in perpetuity. Since 2002, the Jenco Awards have celebrated more than 100 individuals who, like Father Jenco, have given of themselves and inspire others to serve their communities.
The other 2026 Jenco Award recipients are:
- Lisa Carroll of Gallia County has dedicated 10-plus years to serving children, families and communities. In 2014, she founded God’s Hands At Work, a faith-based nonprofit serving Gallia, Jackson, Meigs and Vinton counties. Carroll has grown the all-volunteer organization into a network of ministries and programs that provide both practical assistance and opportunity to those facing poverty and hardship.
- Judge Luann Cooperrider has presided over Perry County’s probate-juvenile court for more than 35 years, but her commitment to community reaches far beyond the courtroom. From helping to launch a free legal clinic and the ALPHA Program for at-risk youth to her work with the Perry Housing Coalition and the Community Foundation for Perry County, Cooperrider has made critical resources more accessible to the people who need them most.
- Stephanie Laube of Guernsey County has spent two decades helping people move from homelessness toward stability. She co-founded the Samaritan Center of Guernsey County, a nonprofit that provides emergency assistance to families at risk of homelessness and operates transitional homes that offer residents a safe place to live and individualized case management to help them identify and overcome barriers to permanent housing.
- Sandra Landis, Skip Ricketts and John Winnenberg are the visionaries behind a 50-year effort to restore the historic Tecumseh Theater, preserving a piece of community, pride and heritage in southern Perry County and the greater region. From Ricketts purchasing the building in 1976 to save it from demolition to Landis and Winnenberg forming the nonprofit Sunday Creek Associates to oversee the theater and its restoration, together, they rallied community support and secured funding to fully revive the theater, culminating in its June 2026 grand reopening.
For more information about the Jenco Foundation, the Jenco Awards, FAO and how you can make a difference in your community, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org , email info@ffao.org or call 740.753.1111.
About the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
The Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, a 501(c)(3) public charity, is a regional community foundation serving the 32 counties of Appalachian Ohio. In partnership with 15 affiliate foundations, FAO works to unleash the collective potential within Appalachian Ohio by encouraging and supporting philanthropy. For more information, visit www.AppalachianOhio.org and follow FAO on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.
