Bernie Van Etten Receives Inaugural David Fell Spirit of Service Award
OBERLIN, OH --A new award was unveiled at the Natural Stone Institute’s annual Awards Ceremony at StonExpo. The David Fell Spirit of Service Award is presented to a company and/or individual who has participated in the Gary Sinise Foundation’s R.I.S.E. program to recognize their efforts for demonstrating the qualities and characteristics of leadership within their company, the community and beyond. The inaugural David Fell Spirit of Service Award was presented to Bernie Van Etten of Murphy Marble Company.
Bernie believes it is important to participate in the R.I.S.E. program because he is blessed to be in such a great industry. “You want to give back to society whenever you have an opportunity to do so. The Gary Sinise Foundation’s R.I.S.E. program has worked hard to put together a great program to help provide homes for severely wounded veterans. Having met a few of these veterans in person, they are tremendous people and heroes in every sense of the word. Combine that with Gary Sinise, who is one of the most incredibly generous and talented people you will ever meet. The energy and excitement the R.I.S.E. program puts forth makes you want to contribute and be a part of their incredible work. It is truly an honor to have participated with R.I.S.E. by providing smart homes for severely wounded veterans. It never felt like work while providing the stonework for the homes we helped with.”