Awards, Dec 08, 2005

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

Arts and humanities. President Bush has awarded the 2005 National Humanities Medal to 10 Americans and U.S. institutions for their contributions to the humanities. The recipients included Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman, co-founders of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (New York). The president also presented 10 National Medals of Arts. The honorees included James DePreist, conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and director of conducting and orchestral studies at the Juilliard School (New York); Leonard Garment, an advocate for the arts and a board member of the Jazz Museum in Harlem (New York); the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (Philadelphia); and Tina Ramirez, founder of Ballet Hispanico (New York).

Americans for the Arts (Washington) has presented its Philanthropy in the Arts award to Eli Broad, for his donations through the Broad Art Foundation (Los Angeles) and his longtime affiliation with various art museums, including the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles) and the Smithsonian Institution (Washington). The Corporate Citizenship in the Arts award went to the Target Corporation (Minneapolis) for its community-based arts-education partnerships.

Fund raising. The Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (Falls Church, Va.) has presented its 2005 Harold J. (Si) Seymour International Award to Sue Carruthers, president and chief executive officer, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation (Vancouver, Canada). During her tenure as chief development officer at the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation, in Toronto, Ms. Carruthers oversaw the completion of an $86-million capital campaign.

Health. The American Cancer Society (Atlanta) has presented its Medal of Honor to three Americans who have contributed significantly to the fight against cancer. The society gave its first-ever Medal of Honor for Cancer Philanthropy to Sidney Kimmel, chairman of the board and founder of the Jones Apparel Group (Bristol, Pa.) and president of the Sidney Kimmel Foundation (Philadelphia), for his personal commitment to improving the lives of cancer patients nationwide. Walter C. Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition and chairman of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health (Boston), received the Medal of Honor for Clinical Research, and Paul L. Modrich, a professor of biochemistry at Duke U. (Durham, N.C.), received the Medal of Honor for Basic Research.

Human services. The Caring Institute (Washington) has presented its 2005 Caring Awards, which honor exemplary individuals who have worked to improve the lives of others. The five young-adult recipients — people age 18 and younger — were announced earlier this year. Following are the seven adult winners:

— Sister Antonia Brenner, La Mesa State Penitentiary (Tijuana, Mexico), who lives in a small cell at the institution, where she ministers to the prisoners.

— Alice Coles, founder and executive director, Bayview Citizens for Social Justice (Cheriton, Va.), who has helped bring educational, housing, and other services to her town, which was settled by freed slaves after the Civil War.

— Father Theodore Hesburgh, president emeritus, U. of Notre Dame (Ind.), whose conflict-resolution work has included convening scientists at Vatican City to call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

— Alfredo Molina, Phoenix, who annually supports more than 100 local charities and an additional 50 national or international causes through volunteering and donations.

— Genny Nelson, founder, Sisters of the Road (Portland, Ore.), whose organization provides a safe haven where homeless women can gain access to food and other necessities.

— Gloria WilderBrathwaite, pediatrician, Washington, who works to bring medical and other services to low-income people and speaks nationwide about antipoverty and social-justice issues.

— Mary Ann Wright, founder, Mary Ann Wright Foundation (Oakland, Calif.), who once spent her $236 Social Security checks to buy food for needy people; today her foundation provides groceries, hot meals, and toys to low-income families.

Nonprofit leadership. The California Wellness Foundation (Woodland Hills) has selected eight executives of California nonprofit health groups to participate in its sabbatical program. The program provides each organization with a $35,000 grant to cover its leader’s salary and expenses during a sabbatical that lasts a minimum of three months. The recipients:

— Shannon Rose Chavez of the North County Rape Crisis and Child Protection Center (Lompoc)

— Shirley J. Cole of North County Lifeline (Vista)

— Cherry L. Houston of Critical Learning Systems (Alta Loma)

— Camille Schraeder of Redwood Children’s Services (Ukiah)

— April Silas of the Homeless Children’s Network (San Francisco)

— Diane L. Sommers of Suicide Prevention of Yolo County (Davis)

— Lue N. Yang of the Fresno Center for New Americans

— Richard Zaldivar of the Wall Las Memorias Project (Los Angeles)

Nonprofit management. The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate U., in Claremont, Calif., has given its 2005 Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation to Keep Alachua County Beautiful (Gainesville, Fla.). The $20,000 award recognizes the organization’s Landscape Bank, which collects discarded plants, shrubs, and trees from nurseries and home-improvement centers and distributes them to schools, community clubs, parks, poor neighborhoods, and public areas. The foundation also recognized the Children’s Dental Services Association (Minneapolis) and the Hope Chest for Breast Cancer Foundation (Wayzata, Minn.), which received $5,000 and $2,500 respectively, for their innovative programs.

Poverty. NetAid (New York) has announced the recipients of its 2005 NetAid Global Action Awards, which honor high-school students in the United States who have organized and led projects to benefit people in poor countries or to raise awareness in their communities about global poverty. Following are the winners, who each received $5,000 for college costs or a charity of their choice:

— Annalise Blum, 18, Berkeley, Calif., and Katharine Kendrick, 18, San Francisco, who worked to increase awareness among students about the genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan, and raised funds to purchase more than 1,200 chickens for refugees fleeing Darfur.

— Katie Reed, 17, Beaverton, Ore., who rallied fellow students to support the education of children in rural Matale, Uganda, including through a library and support for AIDS orphans.

— Rob Stephens, 18, Winston-Salem, N.C., who organized events ranging from charity basketball games to jewelry-making workshops to support homes for AIDS orphans in Kenya.

— Mihiri Tillakaratne, 18, Mission Hills, Calif., who raised funds to help a rural village in Sri Lanka build its first preschool and community center and collected 20,000 pairs of eyeglasses for Sri Lankans who could not afford them.

Social justice. The Puffin Foundation (Teaneck, N.J.) and the Nation Institute (New York) have awarded the 2005 Puffin/Nation Prize to Jonathan Kozol, the author and educator. The prize, which carries a $100,000 award, is given annually to an American citizen who has “challenged the status quo through distinctive, courageous, imaginative, and socially responsible work of significance.” Mr. Kozol was honored for his work to expose the inequities that exist in American schools; his most recent book is The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America (Crown, 2005).

Volunteers. The McKnight Foundation (Minneapolis) has announced the recipients of its 2005 Virginia McKnight Binger Awards in Human Service, which recognize Minnesota residents who volunteer their time and expertise to improve the lives of people in their communities. The winners — each of whom received $7,500 — are: Said Salah Ahmed (Minneapolis), Linda Brown (Mendota Heights), Wafiq Fannoun (Minneapolis), Melvin Giles (St. Paul), Ora Hokes (Minneapolis), Beth Holger (Minneapolis), Curtis Levang (Howard Lake), Larry and Noreen Luck (Fridley), Sister Jean Thuerauf (Minneapolis), and Hedwidge M. Tripp (St. Cloud).