West Sacramento, CA – Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) is pleased to announce that Francis Engellant has been selected as one of two Montanans to receive RCAC’s Yoneo Ono Outstanding Rural Volunteer Award.

The award was created in honor of Yoneo Ono, one of RCAC’s founders. For his lifelong commitment to rural development RCAC’s board presented the first award to Ono when he retired from its board in 1984. The biennial award honors rural individuals who have made significant lifelong contributions to their community in volunteer capacities within RCAC’s service area.

Francis Engellant, originally of Geraldine, Montana, was selected for the award because of his lifelong, unfailing devotion to rural Montana. Among other volunteer activities, Engellant served on the Geraldine School Board for 12 years and was instrumental in constructing a new K-12 school. For more than 30 years, he worked tirelessly as a 4-H leader and supporter. He also served for many years as a board member on the Chouteau County Livestock Protective Association, which is critical to area ranchers in providing the only county-dedicated brand inspector. A WWII veteran who served in the Army Air Corps, Engellant is an active member of both the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. He is also a founding and honorary member of the nonprofit Lippard-Clawiter Foundation, which secures and administers gifts or bequests to benefit Chouteau County residents.

Founded in 1978, RCAC provides training, technical and financial resources and advocacy so rural communities can achieve their goals and visions. RCAC serves rural communities in 13 western states and the Pacific islands. To find out more about RCAC, visit www.rcac.org.

RCAC has nearly 120 staff members, including those living in Montana and throughout the American West; plus native Montanans employed at the headquarters in West Sacramento, California.

RCAC plans to present an award to both Francis Engellant and the Lippard-Clawiter Foundation in a local presentation to be held in August 2016.

Contact: Emily Goldhahn
Rural Community Assistance Corporation
(916) 447 9832 ext. 1042
egoldhahn@rcac.org