Exceptional Past. Extraordinary Future.

Meet Betsy Hanisch and Sherrie Riha

Donor Story

You know the predictable order: a friend serves on a charitable committee, the friend asks another to donate time or money, and the friend does. This is not that kind of story.

When Work Leads to Friendship

Instead, it’s a tale of two people who met while volunteering, who then fostered a friendship that goes far beyond obligation.

Sherrie Riha and her husband, Ray, operate a family business, OEC Business Interiors, and moved their headquarters from Chicago to Elmhurst in 1999. They substantially remodeled their new – but very old – building and offered its conference room for civic group meetings.

It was at an OEC-hosted meeting that Betsy Hanisch met Sherrie. Shortly thereafter, Betsy, who founded the Foundation’s Golf Classic and now serves as the vice president of the Foundation board, invited Sherrie to play golf. Saying yes was easy.

Sherrie also agreed to serve on the Golf Classic planning committee, and when the group brainstormed corporate sponsors, OEC eagerly offered support.

“I sincerely enjoy accomplishing great things with people you like to be with and having a common interest for the good of many,” says Sherrie, who now also serves as a Foundation trustee.

Now, having served on committees together for a decade, getting things done is second nature to Sherrie and Betsy. “We all overlap each other. Sometimes it’s our turn to give, but we’ll all receive, too,” says Betsy.