March 26, 2024
Community Giving Foundation: Danville will honor the 2024 recipient of the Robert N. Pursel Award for “Neighbor of the Year” during the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Event (formerly “Holiday Happenings”) on Saturday, April 20th at the Pine Barn Inn. The event benefits the Neighbors Helping Neighbors endowment fund at the Foundation, which supports unmet needs in the Danville community by granting to nonprofit organizations making a difference right here. Tickets for the event are on sale now at csgiving.org/neighbors.
The event committee is pleased to announce Bob Stoudt as the 2024 recipient of the Robert N. Pursel Award. Through his leadership of the Montour Area Recreation Commission (MARC) and his vast volunteer service, Stoudt is a valued fixture in the Danville community. Since assuming the role of MARC Director in 2010, the organization has grown under Stoudt’s leadership to manage multiple park and trail properties in Montour and Columbia Counties. Stoudt and his team have worked to significantly expand Montour County’s outdoor recreation opportunities, including: operating the Montour Preserve since 2015 (in partnership with Talen Energy); construction of the concrete skatepark at the Hess Recreation Area; construction of more than eleven miles of mountain biking trails at the Hopewell Park/Danville Borough Farm Trail System (in partnership with the Central Susquehanna Hammers Interscholastic Mountain Biking Team and others); development of the Danville Riverfront and Open Space Master Plan (in partnership with the Danville Business Alliance); organizing and directing numerous races and special events; and many other projects.
Stoudt’s commitment to volunteerism in the community has led to his involvement with: Montour County Emergency Management Agency; Central Pennsylvania Drone Response Team; Community Giving Foundation: Danville; Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce; SEDA-COG Metropolitan Planning Organization; SEDA-COG Middle Susquehanna Active Transportation Committee; Danville Heritage Festival Committee; Going Gold Committee; Montour County Recreation Authority; Columbia Montour Partnership for Community Development; Columbia Montour Visitors Bureau; Warrior Run Community Corporations Pathways Committee; Friends of Allegheny Wilderness; Friends of Milton State Park; SEDA-Foundation; Watsontown Borough Parks Renovation Committee; Western Pennsylvania Conservancy; and the Boy Scouts of America.
Stoudt grew up near Turbotville and graduated from Warrior Run High School in 1991. After attending Bloomsburg University and Indiana State University, he moved back to Watsontown in 2022. His wife, Becky, is a CRNA and Geisinger’s Associate Dean of Nursing Student Education. They currently live in Liberty Township, Montour County, with their three children.
For a full biography of Bob Stoudt, a list of previous Pursel Award recipients, and more information about the April 20th event, visit csgiving.org/neighbors.
Community Giving Foundation: Danville is an affiliate of the Community Giving Foundation, which manages over 350 charitable funds and makes grant investments throughout the region to improve the quality of life in the Central Susquehanna area.
Bob Stoudt (photo courtesy of Robert Brown)