Community West Foundation Board of Directors Spotlight: Mike Fruchey

“My philosophy is that there are three stages in life: a learning stage, an earning stage and a returning stage. I am in the returning stage, trying to give back to the community,” said Mike Fruchey, who has served on the board of directors at Community West Foundation since 2017. He currently chairs the Advancement committee, but also participates on the nominating and executive committees.

But that’s just the beginning of his volunteer work. Since he retired, Mike has done over 100 food rescues from participating Giant Eagle stores for the Hunger Network of Cleveland. He would get notified by the store when there was perishable food available to be picked up for donation. Once collected, he would drop them off at an appointed Hunger Network location to be distributed to people in need.

Mike and his wife, Sharon, share the desire to enrich the lives of those in need and their philanthropy reflects that passion. His past board involvement includes the Rocky River Public Library, serving as President of the Rocky River Education Foundation, Cleveland Baseball Federation, The First Tee of Greater Cleveland, Greater Cleveland YMCA and Hunger Network of Greater Cleveland.

Mike earned his Bachelor’s in Journalism from Ohio University and later a Master’s in Urban Studies from the Levin School of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University. For most of his career, he was a business development professional for organizations such as Arthur Anderson, AON Hewett, Mercer HR Consulting and The Hackett Group calling on c-suite executives at Fortune 100 companies.

A little-known tidbit about Mike is that he created the comic strip and American Greetings licensed character, Sherman on the Mount, inspired by the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. The premise of Sherman was that God was as close as a conversation with a neighbor. As Sherman grew in popularity, the American Greetings character appeared on greeting cards and 56 other products distributed worldwide. The comic strip also became nationally syndicated by the LA Times Syndicate, appearing in 150 newspapers in the United States. He also wrote a Sherman story/musical that was performed as a play in 2,500 churches.

Mike and Sharon reside in Rocky River and have two daughters, Jessica and Jennifer, and two grandsons, C.J. and Max, who live in Columbus. They enjoy golfing at various courses in the Cleveland area and are avid travelers having visited 26 countries.

For more information, contact Community West Foundation at 440-360-7370 or visit CommunityWestFoundation.org.