The Elf Foundation honored Leon Speakers as the 2011 Volunteer of the Year at the CEDIA Electronic Lifestyles Awards Banquet, held September 10 following CEDIA EXPO 2011 in Indianapolis.
Leon Speakers’ president, Noah Kaplan, and senior industrial designer, Rob Waissi, were in attendance and honored to accept the award on behalf of the company.
The Volunteer of the Year Award is given in recognition of leadership, generosity, creativity and passion for helping to create Room of Magic theaters in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, shelters and hospices across North America. Volunteerism and donations are the backbone of the Elf Foundation, and what allows the foundation to focus 98 percent of all contributions directly on the service mission.
“Leon Speakers was awarded Volunteer of the Year this year because as a company, while they didn’t have an extended history of working with the Elf Foundation, they really dove in with both feet in a big way,” said Douglas Weinstein, president of the Elf Foundation. “The generosity the company has shown and the way they’ve engaged their business associates and dealer base is really just the tip of the iceberg — it’s the enthusiasm that Noah and the entire group brings to the table and the creative way they’ve gone about it that takes their support to an honorable level.”
This year Leon Speakers helped to organize two Brush & Bass events to raise funds for the Elf Foundation. Noah Kaplan showcased his talent and creativity during the events by painting a live mural for the crowd, set to the music of an upright bass player. The paintings were auctioned off immediately following each event, raising $10,000.
Past recipients of the Elf Foundation Volunteer of the Year Award include Crestron, Sonance, Monster Cable, Runco, Stewart Filmscreen, Yamaha and a variety of selfless CEDIA integration firms.
