LAWRENCEBURG, Ind., December 30, 2025 – The Dearborn Community Foundation, Inc. (DCF) is honoring three community volunteers as 2025 recipients of the Heart of Gold Award for touching the hearts of others through their volunteerism and other acts of kindness.

The Heart of Gold Award honorees deserve the recognition for making a difference in our community in their own unique ways, said Fred McCarter, Executive Director of the Dearborn Community Foundation. “They are role models for how all of us can have a positive impact on others.”

The 2025 Heart of Gold honorees, nominated by a DCF committee and then chosen as Heart of Gold Award recipients by the Foundation’s board of directors, are given the privilege to serve on the “Heart of Gold Grants Committee.” Each recipient recommends a proactive grant(s) totaling $750 to a charitable organization that serves Dearborn County residents.

This year’s honorees are Stacy Halbig, Jude Schulte and Kenny Cotton. These Heart of Gold Award recipients have much in common, including how they humbly complete their volunteer acts of kindness in a way that is so very impactful in our community.

This year’s honorees bring the total to 127 for the number of volunteers honored in more than 25 years of the program designed to recognize the community’s fine volunteers and to promote philanthropy. To learn more about these Dearborn Countians with “Hearts of Gold,” please read their stories detailing just a bit of what they do in our community:

Heart of Gold Honorees’ Stories

Stacy Halbig is known for her energy and enthusiastic character when it comes to focusing on doing what is best for those she serves to help, said Pam Taylor, Assistant Chief at Greendale Police Department, who is also the Secretary/Treasurer for Laughery Valley FOP Lodge 146.

In 2019, Halbig, 49, Aurora, helped to restart the dormant FOP Auxiliary in 2019. She’s now president of the auxiliary, which is made up of police family members and friends who are there to support officers and help them with a community presence. Halbig also chairs the popular Cops & Kids Christmastime program where the FOP provides more than 240 kids in need ($140 per kid) the opportunity to shop with police officers to buy clothes, shoes, hygiene products and one toy. She also chairs the FOP Blue Line Scholars program that provides funds to local schools, supporting existing programs that help students in need, K-12.

Halbig has been in the nursing field since 1996, so helping others is a part of her makeup. She was a longtime school nurse for South Dearborn schools and now uses her nursing skills as a quality outcomes specialist at Mercy Health-West Hospital. Her husband, Bill, is a City of Lawrenceburg police officer. Bill’s involvement with the FOP and her nursing experience in pediatrics led to her involvement with Cops & Kids and Blue Line Scholars.

“It’s such a great feeling to get to see the kids and parents joy when they enjoy their time shopping and interacting with police officers,” said Halbig. “It’s such a great, positive feeling to see their joy to be able to shop and buy something they wouldn’t normally get to buy.”

Halbig not only helped restart the FOP’s Auxiliary, but she heads up fundraisers, like the annual golf scramble and the Purses and Pistols Bingo. Taylor says Halbig is amazing when it comes to generating creative ways to raise money for Cops & Kids and Blue Line Scholars.

“I’m always amazed at how she generates creative ways to raise money and to stimulate volunteers to help,” said Taylor. “She’s a genuine person, lending a helping hand for those that need a little help.”

Halbig says volunteering for programs that help kids is natural to her. “I’ve spent the majority of my nursing career in pediatrics, so being a part of working with so many great volunteers to help kids is special to me,” she said.

Halbig learned a lot about helping others and volunteering from her dad and mom, Steve and Dian Neal. “My dad has always been a big volunteer. My mom was always going out of her way to help others in the work she did. They set great examples for me.”

“I’m lucky that I get to volunteer with a fun group of people that are all so supportive. We always have a good time raising money. … I like to see the joy people get from what we do and it’s a great feeling knowing it helps others have a better life.”

Jude Schulte’s friend, Rachel Reynolds, says he truly has a servant’s heart. “He is highly effective at building connections, bringing people together, and turning compassionate ideas into action,” she said.

Schulte, 64, Greendale, soon-to-be retired after working 30 years in the grocery industry as a software developer, has made his mark bringing folks together to make a difference in other’s lives. He’s a former member of the board of directors at the Dearborn County Clearinghouse for Emergency Aid, Inc., but his current passion is the outreach programs at Hamline Chapel United Methodist Church in Lawrenceburg.

It all started when his father-in-law, the late Jerry Martin, invited him to attend church at Hamline, he said. “Next thing you know, I’m helping restart High Hope Café after COVID-19.”

High Hope Café is a program that provides weekly Wednesday night (5:15-6:15 p.m.) free hot dinners at Hamline Chapel, 102 High Street. Anyone can attend the dinners for a free hot meal and a bit of socializing and fellowship. Mary Weber, a church member at Hamline, started the program several years ago and Schulte’s wife Amy’s family volunteered. That’s how he got involved.

At first, Schulte was a volunteer helping with the meals. Then COVID-19 shut down the program for two years. He was asked to become the High Hope Café chairperson, and he connected with other volunteers to restart the program in 2021 and it’s going strong.

Reynolds first met Schulte when they both volunteered for the Clearinghouse. Now, she’s a volunteer at High Hope Café too. “This weekly event has become a meaningful and welcoming gathering in our town, bringing community members together for a free meal prepared by groups of local volunteers. Jude is almost always present, warmly greeting guests, inviting them in, and ensuring everyone feels seen and valued,” she said.

Schulte calls those “groups,” serving teams. There are 28 serving teams that volunteer on a given night to buy, prepare, and serve the food for 50-60 people (85 meals including carryout), he said. “They buy, prepare and serve the food. Then they clean up and say thank you to us for letting them volunteer. “It’s fantastic to work with our team of volunteers.”

There are seven to eight churches along with businesses, other organizations, Lawrenceburg High School students, and more that make up the serving teams. Schulte, who has been involved in Big Brothers, Big Sisters, particularly likes how LHS students regularly volunteer and engage with folks at the dinners.

“It’s cool to sit back and see how people work together and the impact it has on the those who attend the dinners,” said Schulte. “Some folks are lonely or simply need the socialization. Others can certainly use a hot meal. It’s meaningful.”

This past summer, Hamline partnered with The Community Project, including Board members Reynolds and Ken Maddin, and Lawrenceburg Community Center to launch a summer free lunch program for youth who may be missing out on meals while school is out for summer. The eight-week program was a success, and plans are to continue in 2026. Again, Schulte working is connecting other community partners to make an impact.

When asked why he volunteers his time for others, Schulte said “It seems like the right thing to do, and I enjoy it. I like connecting with people to improve processes. … My mom taught us kids to do good things for others, and it makes you feel better. My parents (the late Bill and Joan Schulte) were always ready to help others. If they saw a need, they jumped in and helped. They were good examples.”

Kenny Cotton continues to use his talent as a woodworker to give others hope. It all started when Kenny and his wife of 60 years, Verna, lost their daughter Amy at the age of 20 in 1994 after an eight-month battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Kenny and Verna wanted to raise funds to establish the Amy Cotton Memorial Scholarship Fund with South Dearborn Dollars for Scholars and DCF.

Originally, Cotton, 81, Aurora, began making Hope Chests, to raise funds in Amy’s memory for the American Cancer Society at the annual Relay-for-Life fundraiser. Then someone suggested they use the chests made by Cotton to raise funds for Amy’s memorial scholarship fund. That’s exactly what they did, and several years later, the scholarship fund was established at SDDFS and DCF.

“We called it Hope Chest because when Amy was fighting cancer, we never wanted her to lose hope,” said Cotton, who adds Amy’s name to the inside of every chest he makes.

Well, the Hope Chest story doesn’t end there. “He kept making them,” said McCarter, who got to know the Cottons when the Amy Cotton Memorial Scholarship Fund was established at DCF. “Kenny and Verna worked hard with the help of others in the community to get the scholarship established. They really appreciate all the folks who helped them reach their goal.”

So, Cotton, with Verna by his side, continues to make Hope Chests and donates them to aid organizations in raising funds to help others. Sometimes, it’s a benefit where funds are raised to help a family who has a child fighting cancer. Other times, it’s for an organization, like the Cruising to A Cure for ALS Car Show put on in Lawrenceburg by Logan Lawrence. He’s even donated chests to help raise funds for veterans’ organizations. Sometimes, he makes a Hope Chest for a family who lost a child or other loved one.

Cotton says he continues to make the chests as a way of paying back the community for helping him and Verna raise the funds to establish the scholarship in Amy’s memory. “The community helped us get Amy’s scholarship established. There’s a lot of folks who’ve lost children or other loved ones to cancer. We want to help them.”

While there’s no true accounting for how much others have raised raffling the Hope Chests over the years, it’s no doubt thousands and thousands of dollars to help others. Cotton has made and donated 160 of the chests that measure 16x16x30 and take about a month to make.

Cotton’s original goal was to make 100 Hope Chests to donate, but he couldn’t stop. His new goal is 200. “To me, it’s all about Amy and the others who need hope. I like to bring a smile out. It would make Amy so happy to know it’s helping others.”

Cotton’s daughter, Tammara Schwing, says her dad has a passion in his heart to help others. “He loves the feeling of helping others, using his talent!”