Rural Outreach Center announces new appointments to board of directors
The Rural Outreach Center (ROC), located at 730 Olean Road in East Aurora, a nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting, empowering and elevating the impoverished rural population in southern Erie County and surrounding areas, has made several new appointments to its board of directors.
Vicki Feine of East Aurora has been named the ROC’s board chair. Feine is an experienced sales and business development executive with a proven track record of driving sales in demanding work environments. After receiving her BSBA from Babson College, she taught sales psychology and merchandise marketing at the Chamberlain School of Retailing and later became a sales and marketing representative for IBM and president of Vicki Feine, Inc. as an independent manufacturer’s representative across Upstate New York and Southern Ontario. After her husband’s death, Feine took over as president of his steel business, August Feine & Sons, with responsibility for managing sales, administration and plant employees, as well as maintaining relationships with customers, bankers, the Ironworker’s Union, accountants and law firms.
Feine has served as event coordinator and volunteer for the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora, Hospice Buffalo and has served on major fundraising committees for the Hospice Foundation of Western New York, the Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora and Nichols School. She serves on the board of directors for the Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora and the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care.
Tim Lafferty of East Aurora, Andrew Lipp of Orchard Park and Michael Sawicki of East Aurora were recently appointed to the organization’s board of directors.
Lafferty received his education at the University at Buffalo and is currently employed by JBM Computer Consultants, Inc., of West Seneca as vice president of sales and marketing. He has been a United Way volunteer for 24 years and has served on the campaign cabinet. Lafferty has also been a member of the UB Alumni Association Board of Directors for 12 years and served as its president from 2011-2013. He has been involved in the Meals on Wheels Corporate Adopt-a-Route program, the Ignatian Volunteer Corps Buffalo Chapter, and has taught religious education at Immaculate Conception Church in East Aurora for over 20 years.
Lipp received a BA from Geneseo College, a BS in industrial engineering from the University at Buffalo and an MBA from Canisius College. He has also received leadership certifications from UB, Leadership Buffalo and the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County. He is currently senior business partner at Independent Health of Buffalo, and previously served on the board of 10,000 Villages.
Sawicki is an attorney with Zdarsky, Sawicki & Agostinelli LLP, a Buffalo law firm founded by Sawicki and three other attorneys 26 years ago, and a member of the New York State and Erie County Bar Associations. He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and has a law degree from SUNY Buffalo Law School. Sawicki served as a member and vice president of the East Aurora Board of Education and has been a trustee of the Catholic Biblical School, Inc. for over 20 years. He served on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Eden and is now a board member of the Boys & Girls Club of East Aurora. He recently completed his term as president of the East Aurora Club.
For more information on the ROC, please call 240-2220 or follow the Rural Outreach Center on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Rural-Outreach-Center-497751720285555 for frequent updates.
