Awards, Nov 05, 1998

The following awards have been presented for work in philanthropy, fund raising, volunteerism, and non-profit management:

Arts and humanities. President Clinton has announced nine recipients of the 1998 National Humanities Medal, including Nancye Brown Gaj, founder and president of Motheread (Raleigh, N.C.), a national family-literacy program, and Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Education and health. The Charles A. Dana Foundation (New York) has presented its 1998 Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Education to Anthony Alvarado, chancellor of instruction at the San Diego Public School System and former superintendent of Community School District 2, in New York, for his work to implement continual professional-development activities for teachers while improving student test scores.

The foundation gave its 1998 Dana Award for Pioneering Achievement in Health to James F. Gusella of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), and Louis M. Kunkel of Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital (Boston), for their work to develop strategies for localizing and characterizing genes that cause neurological disorders.

The foundation presented its 1998 Charles A. Dana Distinguished Achievement Award to Judah Folkman of Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital (Boston), whose scientific discoveries have directly influenced research applications in cancer, heart disease, and pharmaceutical therapy.

Each award carries a $50,000 prize.

First Amendment. The Playboy Foundation (Chicago) has announced the winners of its 1998 Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards, which each carry a $5,000 prize:

— Tisha Byars, a student at Crosby High School (Waterbury, Conn.) who was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit over her refusal to recite the Pledge of Allegiance because she does not believe that “liberty and justice for all” exists for black Americans.

— Lee Brawner, executive director of the Metropolitan Library System (Oklahoma City), who created a public-education campaign to combat attempts to remove the Academy Award-winning film The Tin Drum and assorted reading materials from Oklahoma County libraries.

— Goodloe and Jean Sutton, owner and managing editor of The Democrat-Reporter (Linden, Ark.), for their investigative series on corrupt county law-enforcement officials, which they continued to publish despite death threats and other forms of harassment.

Neighborhood improvement. The Marin Community Foundation (Larkspur, Cal.) has presented its 1998 Neighborhood Achievement Awards. Five organizations in Marin County, Cal., each received grants of $5,000: Lynwood Latino Parents (Novato), which works with Lynwood Elementary School to promote the involvement of Latino parents and sponsors workshops on such issues as health and immigration; Point Reyes Station/Inverness Baseball Field (Point Reyes Station), which was developed by neighbors, parents, and local companies in a community where youths had no safe place to play baseball; Santa Margarita Neighborhood Association (San Rafael), which has initiated various neighborhood-beautification projects, including cleaning up a litter-strewn ditch and encouraging managers of a shopping center to improve its appearance; Waste Free 2000 (West Marin), which organizes local volunteers for various recycling and waste-reduction projects; and Woodacre Children’s Playground (Woodacre), which was designed and developed by a group of local mothers concerned about the lack of a community playground for their children.

Volunteerism and community service. Eighteen individuals and organizations have been given 1998 President’s Service Awards, co-sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation (Washington) and the Corporation for National Service (Washington).The recipients:

— Camp to Belong (Highland Ranch, Colo.), which brings together siblings separated by foster-care placements for a week of camping activities.

— Monsignor Joseph Carroll (San Diego), director of the St. Vincent de Paul Center, who raised more than $7-million to build a residential complex for homeless people that is modeled on an old Spanish mission.

— Columbus Fire Fighters Local Union No. 67 (Ohio), whose members donate supplies to a local food bank, shuttle disabled children to summer camp in fire trucks, and carry out various fund-raising events.

— Community Visions Unlimited (New Orleans), which works to prevent crime, plant gardens, and clean up pollution in a blighted New Orleans neighborhood.

— Connect-a-Kid (Tampa, Fla.), which has found that recruiting low-achieving middle-school students to serve as mentors for younger children helps the older students improve their reading ability.

— Cyberangels (New York), an on-line project that offers cyberspace-safety education and patrols on-line forums for fraud and child pornography.

— EDS (Plano, Tex.), which makes grants to enable schools to purchase technology products and whose employees tutor in more than 150 schools.

— Martin Flores (Los Angeles), who, after his 17-year-old brother was killed in a drive-by shooting, established the Rogelio Flores Foundation, a tutoring program that helps at-risk youths succeed in school and avoid gang involvement.

— Foundation for Interfaith Research and Ministry (Houston), which involves 85 Christian and Jewish congregations in providing services to elderly people and to people with AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease.

— Jeremy Martin Hall (Salem, Ore.), a student at Willamette University who took a leave of absence to develop a local recycling program and a community garden.

— Hospice of Florida Suncoast Teen Council (Palm Harbor, Fla.), which involves 200 student volunteers from Palm Harbor University High School in intergenerational hospice-care programs.

— C. William Johnston (Clearwater, Fla.), a retired dentist who established a clinic that provides dental services for homeless people.

— Clara Kirk (Chicago), who created Clara’s House, a facility for women and children who are victims of domestic violence that insures that the children are enrolled in school and that the mothers save money toward a deposit on an apartment.

— People’s Test Preparation Service (Berkeley, Cal.), which prepares disadvantaged high-school students who can’t afford commercial test-preparation courses to take the SAT.

— Ruppert Landscape Company (Ashton, Md.), which involves its employees, many of whom are foreign-born, as volunteers in rehabilitating soccer and baseball fields and school grounds in Washington.

— Jason Summey (Asheville, N.C.), a middle-school student who established the “Be Cool — Stay in School” peer-counseling program for students at his school.

— Texas Young Lawyers Association (Austin), whose members tutor and mentor at-risk young people, sponsor spelling bees and after-school events, and operate a reading club for middle-school students.

— Terry Thompson and Claire Braeburn (Tustin, Cal.), a mother-and-daughter team who quit successful business careers to create Orange County on Track, a mentor program for at-risk youths.

The following corrects an item that ran in the October 22 issue:

The Peninsula Community Foundation (San Mateo, Cal.) has awarded its 1998 Robert J. Koshland Prize, which honors outstanding service and volunteerism, to Sharon Hofstedt of Redwood City, Cal., who has served on the boards of more than 30 local organizations, including the Peninsula Stroke Association and the Women’s Recovery Association. The prize carries a $10,000 grant, which will go to a non-profit group of her choice.

The foundation presented its 1998 Award for Volunteerism and Philanthropy to Melvin Lane of Atherton, Cal., former publisher of Sunset Magazine and Books, and his wife, Joan, for their long-time work with various local non-profit groups and foundations.

The 1998 Spirit of Initiative Award went to Evelyn Taylor of Foster City, Cal., a retired principal in the San Mateo-Foster City School District, for her work to insure that disadvantaged students received proper medical care, food, and clothing.

The 1998 Business Award for Community Involvement went to the Intel Corporation (Santa Clara, Cal.), which gave more than $96-million in 1997 to educational programs and which encourages volunteerism among its employees.