Chamber honors Phil Kelly as the year's top volunteer

September 26, 2003

When Phil Kelly was interviewed about being named the Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce's Volunteer of the Year, he said he'd learned a great deal by watching Mike Callas in action.

Callas, the owner of Callas Construction and a person who's been active in every important local civic issue in the past 40 years, has obviously taught Kelly a great deal about leadership and public service.

For Phil Kelly, the success of the cause is more important than any credit he gets for working on it. Though he knows how to delegate, he doesn't do so to avoid work. Indeed, according to his counterparts in the Chamber, he's very willing to take on the tedious jobs that involve a lot of elbow grease and not much glory.

His sense of humor, as those who've attended the A-B-C Adult Team Spelling Challenge can attest, is witty and gentle, with the jokes often coming at his own expense.

But he also can be quite serious, asking the tough questions that others might hesitate to pose as chairman of the Chamber's government affairs committee from 2000 to 2002.

And then there is fund-raising. As director of public affairs at Citicorp Credit Services, Inc. he's assisted with a great number of local charitable fund drives. To anyone who hasn't sought donations lately, it's tougher than it used to be.

With budgets tight, individual donors and companies are asking a lot of tough questions about where their money goes and how much good it does when it gets there. That Kelly is willing to engage himself in that difficult process for the good of the community is to his great credit.

Finally, it is nice to see such an honor go to a graduate of the Washington County school system. Kelly, who was valedictorian at Williamsport High School in 1976, decided to apply his abilities to the betterment of the local community, first at Allegheny Power and now at Citicorp.

Someone as personable and intelligent as Kelly could prosper in Baltimore or Washington, D.C.. But instead of enriching himself monetarily, Phil Kelly has chosen to enrich the lives of many in this community. For all he does, we congratulate him on this richly deserved award.

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