David Haradon will receive the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award at the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner on March 18.
KENNETT SQUARE — The Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce will host its 49th Annual Dinner on Friday, March 18, at Longwood Gardens at 6:30 pm. In the picturesque setting of Longwood, the annual dinner attracts business and community leaders for an evening of live entertainment, a silent auction, dinner, and dancing. Tickets are $175, with sponsorship opportunities available. To purchase tickets and to learn more, visit www.scccc.com.
A highlight of the Annual Dinner is the presentation of the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award. The Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award recognizes individuals who unselfishly contribute to the community’s quality of life and display exemplary volunteer efforts demonstrating vision, leadership, and citizenship that positively impact the Southern Chester County community. This year, the Chamber will honor David Haradon as its 2015 Citizen of the Year for his decades of service to the community.
“This is a very humbling honor,” Haradon said. “There are so many incredibly dedicated and talented people in southern Chester County, all working to make this a better place for us to live, work, and play in our beautiful community. I am grateful to call them my friends and partners in all that we have undertaken. This award means a great deal to both me and everyone involved. I sincerely thank the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce for graciously making this honor available and shall accept it with pride for all that we have accomplished together.”
“Dave Haradon is an exemplary example of the successes of true community service,” said Cheryl Kuhn, President of the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce. “His tireless dedication to our community and his ability to bring people together to work toward a common goal is truly remarkable. We are proud to select him as this year’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year award recipient and look forward to honoring him at our Annual Dinner.”
Haradon has a rich history of serving the community. He has been actively involved with local YMCAs, including serving as a technical producer for 10 Kennett YMCA and three Jennersville Goods Kids fundraising dinners. He also served on the Kennett YMCA Golf Fundraising Committee and on Jennersville YMCA’s Togetherhood community service program committee.
Haradon served for two years on the Historic Kennett Square Board of Directors and spent a year as the Oxford Main Street (OMI) Executive Director. He is on the Board of Directors of the Oxford Area Civic Association (OACA) and as co-facilitator/leader with the bi-monthly Kennett Square “Bridging the Community” organization that brings people together to help meet the needs of the Kennett Square area and provides community service volunteer opportunities for residents. More recently Haradon, with Peter Kjellerup of Dansko, Inc., “bridged” Project Cure, the largest provider of donated medical supplies and equipment to developing countries, resulting in the establishment of a new Project Cure refurbishment and distribution center in the former Dansko headquarters facility in West Grove.
Haradon is active in the Longwood Rotary Club and is a multi-level Paul Harris Fellow award recipient. He has developed a passion for the organization’s “Service Above Self” motto serving as the Longwood Rotary Club’s President in 2008-2009, Rotary District 7450 Conference Chair, Rotary Leadership Institute (RLI) instructor, Rotary District 7450 Corporate Board of Director member and District Treasurer. He will be the Rotary District 7450 Governor in 2016-2017 encompassing all Rotary Clubs in southeastern Pennsylvania surrounding Philadelphia.
In his professional career, Haradon spent more than 20 years with DuPont in various senior leadership roles. He launched his own webinar production company in 2001, which continues today. Haradon and his wife Peggy are the parents of two children and have two grandchildren. The couple reside in West Grove, PA.
The Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award has been presented annually since 1968. Past recipients of this prestigious award include: 2005 Kathleen Lafferty, 2006 Doris Haley, 2007 Eva Verplanck, 2008 James T. Horn, 2009 Michael R. Walker, 2010 Janice Taylor, 2011 Terence Farrell, 2012 Stacie A. Kucera, 2013 Ken Goddu; and 2014 Joan Holliday.
