Donna Lunke receives 2024 Norman Deschampe Award from Chamber of Commerce

The Norman Deschampe award is presented to a community member who has shown exemplary dedication to the local businesses. It is given in honor of Norman Deschampe to celebrate his leadership and contributions to the community. This year the award went to Donna Lunke.

Lunke has been a longtime community participant in Cook County. She told WTIP that she began working for the City of Grand Marais and Cook County Attorney in the 1970s. She later transitioned into working in the insurance industry, where she spent 30 years before retiring.

Beyond her regular work, Lunke said that she was taught since childhood the importance of community service. She and husband Orvis have been active on innumerable community service efforts. Lunke said that the primary focus of much of their volunteer work has been to help address hunger and food insecurity in Cook County. “I believe that nobody in our community should ever wonder if they’re going to have dinner tonight,” she said, “And yet, that’s the reality for some folks in Cook County, you know, and the whether it’s empty bowls or the food shelf, Ruby’s Pantry, AEOA, all the things that Orvis and I volunteer for work really hard to address food insecurity.”

The Lunkes also organize a direct aid program called Small Requests, which allows community members to share small financial aid with those who need one-time assistance. Lunke gave the example of helping replace a car battery or contributing to a grocery purchase as a way that those with more financial resources can help their neighbors meet an immediate need.

On the subject of her recent award, Lunke said that she was honored. She said, “I was incredibly blown away to begin with, I think about our community, and I’m among such a good, wonderful group of givers.” She added that she knew Norman Deschampe, so the award was especially meaningful to her. “I knew him as a community leader and his legacy of good for the entire Cook County. He didn’t keep his good to Grand Portage. He worked for the entire Cook County. That legacy lives on today.”

Lunke said that she has no intention of slowing her community service efforts any time soon. She said, “One of my mom’s favorite things was, if you sit still, you rust. And Orvis and I haven’t rusted yet.”

WTIP’s Kirsten Wisniewski spoke with Donna Lunke following her receipt of the Norman Deschampe Award for 2024. Audio of that interview is below.

Kirsten Wisniewski November 13, 2024