On July 31, 2025, 26 Warren Coalition members, staff, and guests came together at the Warren County Community Center for the Coalition’s Annual Awards Luncheon. This annual event is held to honor outstanding members as well as the recipient of the 2025 Larry M. Funk Award for Outstanding Service to Children in Warren County.
Showing up is critical for success—especially when an organization depends upon volunteers–and so each year, the Coalition recognizes those who have attended 80% (or more) of the meetings. For the 2024-25 fiscal year, Perfect Attendance recognition was awarded to Treasurer Kay Schroyer, while Attendance Awards were given to Secretary Holly Goode and Michelle Smeltzer.
Some members go above and beyond their “official” volunteer service duties by assisting the Coalition with events, fundraising, etc. These members are awarded one to four stars each month for their above-and-beyond service. (For example, the treasurer does not receive stars for performing duties related to being the treasurer.) This year, only one point separated the top two Stars, with Kay Schroyer beating out runner-up Coalition President Nick Croft.
Once the member recognitions were announced, attention turned to the Larry M. Funk Award honoree: Harmony Hike. Nominated by Tiffany Halliday, Harmony is the co-founder of the Hike Kidz Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which launched its first initiative in November 2024. She devotes countless hours to the goals of the foundation, reaching Warren County children in need to ensure they have an equal opportunity to thrive. She has brought the community together to provide support directly to children and families that need it most.
Harmony works tirelessly to launch community campaigns and initiatives that strengthen ties in our community by raising funds and providing for basic needs like clothes and other essentials. Hike Kidz Foundation is dedicated to providing these resources to McKinney-Vento and foster students who have unmet needs. She created a campaign that raised enough funds to provide hygiene and art enrichment items to over 130 local children. Last year, the foundation raised funds to sponsor 11 families at Christmas, providing funds, toys, and dinners.
According to Tiffany, the five words that describe Harmony are “devoted, passionate, reliable, driven, and leadership.” In her write-up, Tiffany said, “Harmony is driven to reach and help the local students in need to feel equal. To thrive. To feel more confident.”
Upon being presented with the award, Harmony spoke a few words of thanks to the Coalition and recalled Larry Funk, who worked in the schools while she was a student. “He was active and jolly. Smiling from the inside. Always pleasant. Always present,” she recalled. She concluded her speech with a message: “Sometimes it’s not what you need from the world, it’s what the world needs form you. This is what Mr. Funk gave us and that was a community gift we all felt. A long-lasting impact of what it means to live fully and completely, doing all that you love, with all of your heart.”
Each spring, nominations for the Larry M. Funk Award are open for about four to six weeks. Anyone in the community can nominate someone who serves the children of Warren County. Once the nomination period closes, a small committee made up of Coalition members and staff select four to five finalists, which are then given to Larry Funk’s wife Linda and their son William to make the final selection of the winner.
Harmony received an engraved award and a $500 check, and her name will be added to the list of award recipients that is kept on a plaque in the Warren Coalition offices.
Warren Coalition is a nonprofit agency established in 1994 to help fill the gaps in health care and substance abuse awareness to the community. The Coalition began under the guidance of Warren Memorial Hospital as an outreach project, but it has since grown and was incorporated in 2001. The office is currently located in the Warren County Community Center. Their mission is to make Warren County a safe, healthy, and drug free community through many programs and in collaboration with 15+ member agencies.
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