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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Introduced by law-firm partner James Shoemaker as &#8220;in his 90th year,&#8221; attorney Allan Kluger stepped to the podium at the F.M. Kirby Center on Wednesday and &#8212; in a strong, unequivocal voice &#8212; began &#8220;by correcting something John said. I&#8217;m not 90 years of age. I&#8217;m 89!&#8221;</p><p>The spry and emphatically <em>non</em>-nonagenarian received heaping praise before and after accepting the Luzerne Foundation&#8217;s Mary Bevevino Community Service Award at the foundation&#8217;s annual meeting. He spent his own short time in the limelight praising the community he lives in.</p><p>&#8220;We are blessed to live in the Wyoming Valley, with its outstanding educational, religious and cultural institutions,&#8221; said the senior partner at Hourigan, Kluger &amp; Quinn of Kingston.</p><p>&#8220;Ours is a community joyful in times of prosperity, resilient in times of disaster, generous to those who need, compassionate to those who suffer; a community whose religious and ethnic backgrounds are respected, and give each of us an opportunity to participate in human betterment.</p><p>&#8220;The Luzerne Foundation is an organization that gives us such an opportunity to participate in community development,&#8221; he added.</p><p>Kluger was a founding member of the foundation when it formed in 1994. The award he received was named after the wife of Frank Bevevino, credited with launching the foundation with a $10,000 donation in memory of Mary.</p><p>Kluger recalled that moment Wednesday.</p><p>&#8220;The Luzerne Foundation began because Frank Bevevino had the foresight and fortitude to change the &#8216;what if&#8217; into &#8216;how can we&#8217;.&#8221;</p><p>Kluger reiterated numbers provided earlier in the brief event. Since 1994, the foundation has collected more than $118 million and built a $35 million endowment for future giving. From March of this year, it has given out nearly $2.9 million, and from the start of the year, it has awarded nearly $6.8 million.</p><p>The most recent grants stemmed from the foundation&#8217;s Non-Profit Forum in March, when 30 agencies got five minutes each to make a pitch for money. The winners were announced before Kluger was honored: Victims Resource Center, Hope Center, Wyoming Valley Drug and Alcohol, Camp Orchard Hill, North Branch Land Trust, Dinners for Kids, Brighter Journeys, Camp Koala, Wyoming Valley Children&#8217;s Association, United Way of Wyoming Valley, Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, Wilkes Barre Family YMCA, Luzerne County Historical Society, Daily Bread Food Pantry, Commission on Economic Opportunity, Candy&#8217;s Place, KISS Theatre, and Social Fabric Collective.</p><p>Shoemaker said Kluger takes on every client&#8217;s problems as if they were his own. &#8220;At the end of the day, what distinguishes Allan is that he dedicated his life to helping others.&#8221;</p><p>Rabbi Larry Kaplan gave the benediction by quipping about Kluger&#8217;s age. &#8220;Since Allan is still awake, I can&#8217;t resist the opportunity to praise him for all he&#8217;s done for the community,&#8221; Kaplan said. &#8220;You make it seem easy to do good. It&#8217;s as if it takes little effort for you.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kluger, the recipient of the Mary Bevevino Commuinity Service Award, is shown during his speech Wednesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Kluger-Awarded-3-1-.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kluger, the recipient of the Mary Bevevino Commuinity Service Award, is shown during his speech Wednesday night. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Kluger-Awarded-2-1-.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Local attorney Allan Kluger, at the podium, received the Mary Bevevino Community Service Award given by The Luzerne Foundation at the F.M. Kirby Center on Wednesday. Shown in the back, left to right: Kluger&#8217;s law-firm partner James Shoemaker; Mike Weaver, foundation board chairman; and Charles Barber, foundation president and CEO. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Kluger-Awarded-2-1-.jpg</photo1><caption1>Local attorney Allan Kluger, at the podium, received the Mary Bevevino Community Service Award given by The Luzerne Foundation at the F.M. Kirby Center on Wednesday. Shown in the back, left to right: Kluger&#8217;s law-firm partner James Shoemaker; Mike Weaver, foundation board chairman; and Charles Barber, foundation president and CEO. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mark Guydish</p><p>mguydish@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne Foundation gives community service award to Attorney Allan Kluger