Awards, Apr 19, 2007

The following awards have been presented for work in advocacy, fund raising, nonprofit leadership, philanthropy, and other areas:

Community service. Volvo Cars of North America (Rockleigh, N.J.) has presented its 2007 Volvo for Life Awards, which honor “unsung heroes” working to improve the environment, quality of life, and safety. Each award carries a $50,000 prize to be donated to a charity chosen by the winner. The overall winner and honoree in the quality-of-life category is Rose Mapendo, co-founder of Mapendo International (Phoenix), which operates a medical clinic in Kenya and helps refugees from Rwanda flee genocide in their country. The winner in the environment category is Eli Kahn, founder of Cartridges for a Cure (Baltimore), a program that recycles cartridges for ink-jet and laser printers to raise money for pediatric-oncology research. The winner in the safety category is Paula Lucas, founder of the American Domestic Violence Crisis Line (Portland, Ore.), which provides free counseling for victims of domestic violence, particularly those who live outside the United States.

Volvo also announced finalists in each category, who receive $25,000 apiece for their programs. The finalists in the environment category are Robina Suwol of Van Nuys, Calif., who advocates for policies to protect schoolchildren from harmful chemical pollution, and Bonnie Swanson, the principal at a school in Vero Beach, Fla., who led students to create and raise money for a local nature reserve. The finalists in the quality-of-life category are the Rev. Faith Fowler, who operates programs in inner-city Detroit for homeless and mentally ill people, and Laura Moore, founder of Dream House for Medically Fragile Children (Lilburn, Ga.), a transitional foster home. The finalists in the safety category are Rosamond Carr, founder of the Imbabazi Orphanage (South Orange, N.J.), which cares for children who escaped the Rwandan genocide, and Kendall Phills, who began advocating safe driving after her husband, the professional basketball player Bobby Phills, died in a street-racing accident.

In addition, Volvo announced the winner of the Alexandra Scott Butterfly Award, which honors a young person who leads philanthropic efforts. Samita Mohanasundaram, 15, who has presided over a book collection for impoverished children in India and a card-signing campaign for residents of Florida who have been affected by hurricanes, was recognized with the $25,000 prize, which will be contributed to the charity of her choice.

Disabilities. The Disability Funders Network (Falls Church, Va.) has given its William Diaz Impact Award to Susan O’Hara and the True North Foundation (Grass Valley, Calif.). Ms. O’Hara is a trustee and program officer at this grant maker that supports organizations promoting civil and human rights for disabled people, including legal and legislative advocacy and grass-roots organizing.

Film and video. The Council on Foundations (Washington) has announced the recipients of the Henry Hampton Awards for Excellence in Film & Digital Media, co-sponsored by Grantmakers in Film + Electronic Media (New York). The awards recognize excellence in documentary filmmaking that focuses on “compelling social movements and issues”; films must have received some foundation money to be eligible. The winners:

— The Grace Lee Project, a film by Grace Lee that interviews women who are also named Grace Lee.

— Kids Care, a documentary on young people who have lost a friend or family member to cancer.

— My Country, My Country, a film by Laura Poitras that follows Iraqis as they live through the war.

— Omar and Pete, a film by Tod Lending that documents the lives of two longtime friends who have been in and out of prison for more than 30 years.

— Waging a Living, a film by Roger Weisberg that chronicles the day-to-day struggles of four low-income workers and their families.

Nonprofit law. The American Bar Association (Chicago) has named Bruce R. Hopkins, a lawyer at the Kansas City, Mo., office of Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus, as the recipient of its Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award. The association’s Business Law Section makes the award annually to lawyers who have made exemplary contributions to the nonprofit world or to the development of nonprofit law.

Women and girls. Women & Philanthropy (Washington) has given its 2007 Leadership for Equity and Diversity (LEAD) Award to Helen LaKelly Hunt, founder of the Sister Fund (New York). The award honors grant makers who have developed and supported programs that help advance equity for women and girls. Ms. Hunt was honored in particular for her work to empower women and girls economically, politically, socially, and spiritually, and for encouraging female philanthropists to make large gifts to establish grant-making institutions that support causes of importance to women.