Awards, Apr 28, 2005

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

Environment. The Goldman Environmental Foundation (San Francisco) has presented its 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize to grass-roots environmental activists from six world regions. The winners, who each received an unrestricted stipend of $125,000:

— Africa. Corneille E.N. Ewango (Epulu, Democratic Republic of Congo), who, as a botanist for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature, directed the Okapi Faunal Reserve’s botany program from 1996 to 2003 and helped protect and preserve the reserve and its inhabitants and rare animals and plants during his country’s brutal civil war.

— Asia. Kaisha Atakhanova (Karaganda, Kazakhstan), who led a successful campaign to prevent nuclear waste from being commercially imported into Kazakhstan and has helped raise public awareness in her country about the dangers of nuclear contamination.

— Europe. Stephanie Danielle Roth (Rosia Montana, Romania), a French-Swiss citizen who has spearheaded an international campaign to stop construction in Romania of what would be Europe’s largest open-cast gold mine.

— Islands and Island Nations. Chavannes Jean-Baptiste (Papay, Haiti), who founded the Peasant Movement of Papaye in 1973 to teach Haitians about sustainable agriculture and anti-erosion techniques that have fostered both economic development and environmental protection.

— North America. Isidro Baldenegro López (Chihuahua, Mexico), a subsistence farmer and community leader of Mexico’s indigenous Tarahumara people whose work has led to new logging bans throughout the Sierra Madre region.

— South and Central America. Father José Andrés Tamayo (Olancho, Honduras), a Catholic priest who directs the Environmental Movement of Olancho, a coalition of subsistence farmers and community and religious leaders who are defending their lands against uncontrolled commercial logging.

Volunteerism. Catholic Charities USA (Alexandria, Va.) has given its 2005 National Volunteer of the Year award to Helen Brown, of New Orleans, who was honored for her 54 years of service to St. Elizabeth’s, a New Orleans home for abused and neglected girls, and to other local charities.

The United Way of America (Alexandria, Va.) has awarded the 2005 National Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award to Don and Adele Hall of Shawnee Mission, Kan. The Halls have served as co-chairs of the de Tocqueville Society at Heart of America United Way (Kansas City, Mo.) and created a policy at Hallmark Cards, which Mr. Hall’s father founded, that provides grants to nonprofit groups at which Hallmark employees volunteer regularly.