Kansas City Chiefs president among those to be honored at North Allegheny Foundation Alumni Gala

Tickets are now on sale for the 2025 NA Distinguished Alumni Gala to be held Jan. 23 at the Holy Trinity Center, 985 Providence Blvd., in McCandless.

“As usual, there is an amazing group of honorees, including the Soergel family, who is receiving the Spirit of NA award for their longstanding support of our schools and community. Plus, Mark Donovan, president of the Kansas City Chiefs, is being honored for excellence in business,” said Bill Mascari, secretary of the NA Foundation, highlighting just a couple of the former NA grads being recognized.

The complete list for this year’s honorees and their respective categories include Debbie Chase Van der Bol, 1974, for the arts; Mark Donovan, 1984, for business; Scott Cunningham, 1981, for community service; Karen Hooker, 1974, for education; Scott Kofmehl, 1999, for government; Dr. Samir Singh, 2004, for medicine; Michael Talkowski, 1994, for science and technology; Kate Grennan, 2006, as young alumni; and the Soergel Family, for the Spirit of NA award.

Mascari said Donovan will not be present at the awards ceremony due to the busyness of his playoff schedule. However, he sat with two North Allegheny seniors, Noah Cerimele and Jacob Clarkson, in December during a 30-minute interview at the team’s hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh.

“It was an awesome experience for our students,” Mascari said.

The interview was not yet available to the public, but a post on the event can be found on the North Allegheny Facebook page.

Donovan is the fifth president in the team’s history, now in his 26th season in the National Football League and his 16th season with the Kansas City Chiefs, according to a post on the North Allegheny Facebook site. He also was the inaugural recipient of the North Allegheny Athletic Hall of Fame’s Dr. Lawrence Bozzomo Award for Distinguished Career Achievement, awarded in the fall of 2021.

In addition to the grants, the NA Foundation awards a variety of scholarships to students at North Allegheny.

More information about the foundation and a link to purchase tickets can be found at northallegheny.org or on the district’s Facebook page.

RSVP by Jan. 11. Individual tickets cost $80 or a table of eight tickets cost $640. Cocktail hour is at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7.