LONDON – Menifee County’s Lori Franklin has been named a recipient of Operation UNITE’s “Rising Above” Award for inspiring leadership, purpose and passion in the region.
The award was presented by Gil Kerlikowske, White House Director for Drug Policy, and Fifth District Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers during a celebration dinner at the London Community Center Wednesday, February 23.
Franklin wears many hats in Menifee County. In addition to serving as the Community Education Director for the county schools the past nine years, she is an American Red Cross volunteer and CPR instructor, is grant administrator for the Menifee County Sheriff’s Office, teaches Celebrate Recovery (the county’s only recovery group which she helped start), serves on the board for the Frenchburg/Menifee County Chamber of Commerce, and has been the UNITE coalition’s vice-chair since the group’s inception in 2005.
“As vice chair of the coalition, she has undertaken countless projects that reach out to desperate families struggling with addiction,” said Karen Kelly, director of UNITE. “Lori is truly someone who goes beyond to give back to her community – especially the youth and families struggling to make ends meet.”