Samaritan Hospital Foundation Honors Sandy Burkholder, Ken Milligan, Christina Teevan, and Dr. Jim Patterson for Their Service

Each year in October, a crowd of nearly 150 gathers to celebrate individuals in our community who give generously of their time, talent, treasure, and service to help others. This year, the Samaritan Hospital Foundation’s (SHF) annual Heart of Giving Appreciation Dinner honored four individuals with Heart of Giving Awards and a new award added last year to recognize a young person in our community who goes above and beyond for others—this year SHF recognized two outstanding youth, Hayden Dipuccio and Maria Welch.

The event began with videos highlighting how SHF grants are positively impacting the health and wellness of individuals in Ashland County and the hospital, including:

• Ashland County individuals with special needs and disabilities and their families were invited to the Ashland County Fairgrounds for an evening of all-inclusive fun! The Summer Splash event, organized and funded by Samaritan Hospital Foundation, included a variety of activities and food throughout the evening. Individuals with special needs and their families enjoyed tethered hot air balloon rides, a petting zoo, motorcycle rides, fire trucks from the Ashland Fire Department, nail painting, a catered meal, and live music! During the dinner, SHF called members of the Widows Sons motorcycle group to the stage to thank them for their incredible turnout at the Summer Splash event that helped make the day unforgettable as children and adults alike were all smiles riding on the backs of motorcycles, and for the work they do year-round to raise funds and give back to the Ashland Community.
• Over the past 11 years, SHF has granted ~$538,000 in scholastic awards to the next generation of nursing and allied medical students. This year, the Foundation, through the Paul R. Myers Medical Scholastic Award and the Dr. Philip E. Myers Medical Scholastic Award, approved two of the highest scholastic awards granted to date. Katia Ringler and Frankie Dinsmore each received a $7,000 scholastic award toward their education in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements and community involvement.

Introduced in 2023, SHF added The Power of Youth Award to recognize a young person in our community who shares his or her time and talents to help others. This year, two youth were recognized with the award that included a $5,000 check to go toward their education.

Hayden Dipuccio, a senior at Ashland High School as well as a three-sport athlete and an honor roll student, was recognized with The Power of Youth Award for going out of his way to be inclusive and for his servant’s heart—from taking the time to help a younger autistic child navigate a high school event and donating signs from his Yard Card business to brighten someone’s day, to serving as a volunteer at A Night to Shine with the Ashland Special Needs Ministry. Hayden gives without expecting anything in return.

Maria Welch graduated from Crestview High School in 2024 with a 4.0 GPA. She is currently taking courses through NCSC in their Biology program and has been accepted into The Ohio State University Pre-med Biology program. She is the daughter of two military veterans who both experienced major health issues as a result of their active duty. Because of her parents, Maria is passionate about becoming a physician to dedicate her life to bringing light and healing to the health issues that impact veterans and active military members. For her aspirations to care for those who serve our country, Maria was recognized with The Power of Youth Award.

During the Heart of Giving Awards portion of the event, SHF recognized four individuals in our community for their faithful service to make a difference in the lives of others:

Sandy Burkholder was honored for decades of serving the Ashland community with her time and talents alongside her employer, Armstrong, through the company’s community initiatives such as Breaking Bread that has brought in over $100,000 and more than 200,000 pounds of food to help those in need and Healing Heroes that raises money to provide service dogs for disabled veterans. Sandy also generously shares her faith and her 100-acre property to help young people find their way to Christ through the ministry she started with her husband, Jon. Pathfinder Farms is the Burkholder’s Christian-based ministry that has grown to offer a variety of programs to help kids build life skills. To date, Sandy and Jon have reached hundreds of young men and women in the Ashland area—helping them to find their way.

Ken Milligan was recognized for a lifetime of serving the Ashland community, including as United Way president, serving on the board of trustees, and as campaign chair resulting in the first campaign to top the $1 million mark! Ken has also served on the Ashland Community Foundation board of trustees and as board chair, Ashland Chamber of Commerce board of directors and is recipient of the Jim Lingenfelter Service Award, Associated Charities board president, Ashland Downtown Development Committee, Ashland School Foundation Advisory Committee as member and on the board of directors, Samaritan Hospital Endowment Advisory Committee, and many others. He has also served for 30 years in many capacities through his church, Trinity Lutheran.

Dr. Jim Patterson, retired Ashland optometrist and retired Colonel from the Air National Guard, was recognized for a lifetime of giving back through caring for the vision needs of the Ashland community, volunteering through vision mission trips overseas, and, last but not least, serving our country as Commander of the Medical Group for the Ohio Air National Guard 179^th Airlift Wing. Jim used his optometry skills to serve on 15 vision mission trips to the Dominican Republic where he and his team would set up clinics in churches and church members homes to reach people unable to travel to cities for care. Jim and his team served the vision needs to restore sight to thousands of people as well as their spiritual needs by teaching them about Jesus.

Christina Teevan was recognized for answering God’s call through decades of serving, loving, and caring for families and individuals with special needs. As Executive Director of the Ashland Special Needs Ministry, she serves Ashland families who have special needs by providing respite care that addresses the individual needs of each family. Christina also serves as a leader at Joni and Friends camp, speaks at special needs conferences to share her knowledge with others, and started a program called Pure Joy at Grace Church, which is a Sunday School for kids and adults with special needs. And when she isn’t doing all of this, she’s attending IEP meetings, taking meals to families, driving families to appointments, and offering to help in any way she can.