Raymond Rosenberger-Minette Baum Award 2018 Recipient, Kelly Zachrich

Annually the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation has the privilege of nominating the Raymond Rosenberger – Minette Baum Awardee. The recipient is nominated by the Foundation Trustees. PNC Financial Services, manages the Raymond Rosenberger Trust, and annually selects the finalist and distributes a financial award to the recipient and/or their charitable organization(s).

To be considered for this award, the nominee shall have performed diligent and faithful service for an Exempt Charitable Organization which is organized and operated to (I) alleviate human suffering or enhance the quality of life of a persons afflicted with illness or injury, or (II) promote wellness through prevention of illness, disease or injury so that they are advancing the mission of the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation and the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.

The St. Joseph Community Health Foundation is honored to have Kelly Zachrich as their 2018 Raymond Rosenberger – Minette Baum Awardee. She earned this by performing diligent and faithful service for nineteen years as the Executive Director of Super Shot to promote wellness and prevent illness and disease for thousands of local children.

Kelly Zachrich has had a vision for over 20 years of northeastern Indiana being a community full of healthy children and families. In July of 2017, she retired after spending the past 19 years implementing that vision by working to make immunizations available to everyone in northeast Indiana in her role as the Executive Director of Super Shot.

Under Kelly’s leadership, Super Shot Saturday grew from a twice yearly clinic in 1992 within the local Department of Health to Super Shot, Inc., an independent and thriving not for profit organization that leads Indiana in providing more immunizations than any other organization in the State. In 2016, her last full year at the helm, Super Shot served 8,569 Children and Adults during 10,929 visits where 31,632 immunizations were provided.

She also empowered parents by creating an extensive health education program which engaged 8,620 individuals by teaching them about the importance of vaccines, and also prompted parents to act on this knowledge by mailing 80,377 informational reminder postcards and making 15,790 nurse phone calls to parents.

During her time as Executive Director for Super Shot, Kelly helped establish the Indiana Immunization Coalition in 1999, improving public policy regarding immunizations and served as its Executive Director for 7 years. Kelly has received recognition from the CDC, numerous awards and is often asked to speak at state and national immunization conferences about the success of our local program. In 2006, Kelly was recognized by her peers as an Outstanding Immunization Advocate at the Indiana State Immunization Conference.

In addition to her exemplary professional service to Super Shot and the Indiana Immunization Coalition, Kelly always continued to be involved in other organizations in the community. Kelly joined Junior League of Fort Wayne in 1990 and was an active member for over 10 years. In 1998-1999, Kelly served as JLFW President. Kelly continues her commitment to the JLFW mission by mentoring other women, attending focus groups, serving as a sustainer advisor to the board. In May 2009, Kelly received the League’s Sustainer of the Year Award. For many years, she was an active volunteer at Weisser Park Elementary when her children were attending the school. She served as facilitator for the United Way’s Study Circles Racial Dialogue programs. She served on the board of the Urban League. She also served for many years on the board for Healthier Moms and Babies. She is tireless in her work for our community.

She is happily married to Dave Zachrich and they have raised three wonderful children. And, in recognition of her contributions to the community, Mayor Tom Henry declared November 6, 2017 as Kelly Zachrich Day in Fort Wayne! Kelly’s compassionate vision, her commitment to improving the health of our community make her truly worthy of this award.