President John Zavodny has announced the two recipients for the Sunbeam Award in 2023: retired Director of Island Health Sharon Daley, RN, and the Mission’s healthcare partners! This year’s awardees were chosen for their unwavering commitment to providing exceptional care to island residents served by the Sunbeam.
Both awardees will be recognized at this year’s Sunbeam Award Gala. The Gala is the Mission’s annual opportunity to celebrate those who embody the ideals of the community and whose work has made a lasting impact. The 2023 event will take place on Thursday, August 17 at the Bar Harbor Club.
“Beginning with lighthouse keepers and their families in 1905, the Mission has helped ease the isolation of island life by making health care more accessible,” says Mission President John Zavodny. “Sharon and our current healthcare partners represent the latest chapter in that century of service and we are thrilled to honor their dedication over the years and especially through the Covid pandemic.”
For two decades, Sharon Daley delivered healthcare services to individuals living on Maine’s unbridged, outer islands. During her tenure as the Mission’s Director of Island Health, she developed a nascent initiative into a robust program that today includes telehealth, vaccinations, home health, specialist visits, and more. Now retired, Sharon and her husband Tom continue to live year-round on the island of Islesboro, Maine.
Since the founding of the Island Health program, numerous healthcare providers and agencies have partnered with the Mission. These partners have ensured Mainers receive quality health services and can continue to live on the islands they call home.
In the past 18 years, Sunbeam Award recipients also include:
- 2022 – Les Coleman & Downeast Education Partners
- 2021 – Acadia Senior College & Sigma Kappa
- 2019 – Bryan Colket and the Sunbeam “All Hands on Deck” Committee & Dr. Diehl
- Snyder, MDI Hospital Behavioral Health Center
- 2018 – Marjorie Withers & Maine Community Foundation
- 2017 – Robin Alden & Earl Brechlin and Alan Baker, The Mount Desert Islander
- 2016 – Edward R. Flanagan & Cookie Horner and Jack Russell
- 2015 – Joseph M. Murphy & Todd West
- 2014 – Senator George J. Mitchell
- 2013 – Charlie Harrington
- 2012 – Ashley Bryan
- 2011 – Edith R. Dixon & Ralph W. Stanley
- 2010 – Emily A. Sabah-Maren & Gary DeLong
- 2009 – Curtis L. Blake & Marianne Barnicle
- 2008 – Charlotte Bordeaux & Dr. Richard Dimond
- 2007 – James Gower & Henry Harris
- 2006 – Cornelia Greaves Bates & Alf Wakeman
- 2005 – Ruth and Tristram Colket & Myron Sprague
- 2004 – Jill Goldthwait & Fritz Dixon
Those interested in attending may request a seat or table beginning June 1, 2023. The event takes place each year at Bar Harbor Club and includes a presentation, dinner, and cocktail hour. For more details, please explore the 2023 Sunbeam Award Gala web page.