Everyday Heroes 2019: Mike Lehman

By day, 49-year-old McHenry resident Mike Lehman is owner of McHenry Printing. Before, after and in-between, he is a husband, father to 5½-year-old triplets and member of the McHenry Sunrise Rotary Club.

When the club first formed 10 years ago, its main focus was helping children within the community. Soon after its formation, Lehman helped launch the Sunrise Secret Santa program. The program uses surplus toys from Toys for Tots and distributes them to underprivileged children within the county. With a crew of 500 to 600 volunteers to collect, sort, wrap and deliver over a weeklong period, it is quite the undertaking, and Lehman is the maestro of it all.

“Our club helps the community and it tugged at my heartstrings that there are families within the community that could not provide for their kids,” Lehman said. “We had all these toys and it made sense to bring this initiative to our club. I have great support from the other club members, but working from home, I have the flexibility to take this on where others can’t.”

In 2018, the Sunrise Secret Santa program provided toys to 1,868 children through roughly 697 deliveries. Collection generally begins following the McHenry Toys for Tots Parade in November.

Lehman is a Northwest Herald Everyday Hero recipient, nominated by fellow rotary member Vicki Nielsen.

Johnsburg resident and Founding President of Sunrise Rotary Club Jeff Batt said this is a well-deserved award for Lehman.

“He’s done an awful lot of work for Sunrise Secret Santa and Mike has single-handedly grown the program from what it was, to what it is today,” Batt said. “We’ve been there to help him, but it’s been his doing, and he should be very proud of that. Our club wouldn’t be what it is without Mike. He’s the driving force. We’re a small club, and it’s an amazing undertaking.”

Lehman said he was very honored to receive this recognition.

“A hero is someone that gives back without thinking of themselves,” Lehman said. “I found a place with this club where I fit in and we all give back together. Our club motto is ‘service above self’ and I firmly believe that.”