Awards, Nov 27, 2003

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

Arts. Americans for the Arts (Washington) has presented its Frederick R. Weisman Award for Philanthropy in the Arts to Teresa Heinz, chairman of the Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies (Pittsburgh) for her efforts to support Pittsburgh arts organizations, improve arts education, and promote high-quality public art and urban design. The Corporate Citizenship in the Arts award went to Vance Coffman, chairman and chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin (Bethesda, Md.), to recognize the company’s substantial support of arts organizations in communities where it operates.

Children and families. The Alliance for Children and Families (Milwaukee) has presented its Barksdale Brown Volunteer/Community Service Award to the former first lady Barbara Bush. Mrs. Bush was selected for her advocacy on behalf of children.

Fund raising. The Public Broadcasting Service (Alexandria, Va.) has presented its Awards for Excellence and Development to selected affiliate stations. The winners and their respective categories:

— Auction: WVIA (Pittston, Pa.).

— Capital campaign: Connecticut Public Television (Hartford).

— Cultivation and stewardship: UNC-TV (Research Triangle Park, N.C.).

— Local corporate and foundation support: KLVX (Las Vegas).

— Major gifts: KNPB (Reno, Nev.).

— On-air achievement: Thirteen/WNET (New York).

— Online fund raising: WGBH (Boston).

— Overall development: Kentucky Educational Television (Lexington).

— Overall membership: Connecticut Public Television (Hartford).

— Planned giving: Twin Cities Public Television (St. Paul).

— Special achievement: WGBH (Bos-ton).

— Special fund-raising events: WHYY (Philadelphia).

PBS also gave its C. Scott Elliott Development Professional of the Year award to Rus Peotter, general manager of WGBY (Springfield, Mass.). Public Television Leadership Awards were presented to the following individuals:

— Glen and Polly Barton of WTVP (Peoria, Ill.).

— Spence and Cleone Eccles of KUED (Salt Lake City).

— Eric C. Smith Jr. of Florida Public Broadcasting (Tallahassee).

— Josh and Judy Weston of Thirteen/WNET (New York).

— James Wyant of Vermont Public Television (Colchester).

Human services. The Caring Institute (Washington) has presented its 2003 Caring Awards, to honor individuals who have worked to improve the lives of others. The adult winners:

— William Austin, founder of the Hearing Foundation (Eden Prairie, Minn.), which supports research on hearing and distributes hearing aids to poor people free of charge.

— Gloria Johnson-Rodgers, founder of the Gwendolyn Wilkes Rainbow Center (Columbus, Ga.), where young children receive food and educational assistance. Dr. Johnson-Rodgers also has helped provide food to people in Africa.

— Steve and Michele Kirsch, founders of the Steve and Michele Kirsch Foundation (Los Altos Hills, Calif.), which supports cancer research, education, environmental protection, and other causes.

— Vice Admiral William P. Lawrence, retired, of Crownsville, Md., who as a Navy captain in the Vietnam War helped his fellow prisoners of war survive for six years.

— Jerry Lee, a radio broadcaster and philanthropist in Philadelphia, who has encouraged other broadcasters to serve their communities, and who created the Center of Criminology at the U. of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).

— Betty Tisdale, founder of Helping and Loving Orphans (Seattle), who arranged to evacuate 219 babies from an orphanage in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1975.

The young-adult winners:

— Anthony Leanna, 12, of Suamico, Wis., who collects hats and redistributes them to cancer patients.

— Kayt and Maggie Norris, 18 and 16, respectively, of Quincy, Ill., who co-founded a student service organization, whose members select and participate in community projects.

— Gregory Smith, 13, of Keswick, Va., who founded International Youth Advocates to involve young people from around the world in activities designed to promote peace.

— Makenzie Snyder, 12, of Bowie, Md., who collects donations of duffel bags and small gifts and redistributes them to foster children.

The Caring Institute also honored Johnson & Johnson (New Brunswick, N.J.) with the Corporate Caring Award, to recognize its substantial philanthropic contributions.

Humanities. President Bush has awarded the 2003 National Humanities Medal to 10 Americans for their contributions to the humanities. The recipients included Joan Ganz Cooney, who helped create the Children’s Television Workshop (New York) and the children’s television show Sesame Street.

Nonprofit leadership. The National Assembly of Health & Human Service Organizations (Washington) has presented its Essence of Leadership Award to Philip Coltoff, chief executive officer of the Children’s Aid Society (New York). The award recognizes excellence in leadership and commitment to mission, clients, and staff and board members.

Social entrepreneurship. Ashoka: Innovators for the Public (Arlington, Va.) has announced a new class of fellows. The 10 fellows, selected for their innovative solutions to pressing environmental and social problems, will receive stipends of up to $165,000 each over three years. The recipients:

— Amy Jaffe Barzach, co-founder and executive director of Boundless Playgrounds (Hartford, Conn.), which has created more than 60 playgrounds that are accessible to children with disabilities.

— Marc Freedman, founder and president of Civic Ventures (San Francisco), which helps people ages 60 to 90 develop new careers or engage in public service.

— C. Renae Griggs, founding executive director of National Police Family Violence Prevention Project (Winter Haven, Fla.), which has influenced departmental policies, started training programs, and promoted mental-health services to reduce the incidence of domestic violence and suicide among law-enforcement professionals.

— Darell Hammond, co-founder and chief executive officer of KaBoom (Washington), which has worked with local residents to build 600 new playgrounds and improve 1,500 others in low-income neighborhoods.

— Tammy Krause, president of JustBridges National Clearinghouse (Harrisonburg, Va.), which offers programs and training to help victims and their families play a larger role in criminal trials.

— Donna Morton, founder and executive director of the Centre for Integral Economics (Victoria, Canada), which advocates tax incentives designed to protect the environment and solve social problems.

— Jeff Palmer, president and chief executive officer of Coordinated Care Network (Pittsburgh), which provides discount medications to low-income people, and uses money saved by reducing unnecessary medical services to help pay for health care for uninsured people.

— Larry Rosenstock, chief executive officer and principal of High Tech High (San Diego), which uses technology and individual and group projects to help students learn.

— Nicole Rycroft, president of Markets Initiative (Tofino, Canada), which works with publishing companies to phase out their use of products from the ancient rainforest of British Columbia and other endangered forests worldwide.

— Bill Thomas, founder and president of Green House Project (Sherburne, N.Y.), which creates neighborhoods of residences for small groups of elderly people as an alternative to large nursing homes.

Substance abuse. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Princeton, N.J.) has named its 2003 Leadership in Reducing Substance Abuse Fellows. Fellows will work with mentors and will receive $75,000 each over three years to advance their careers and undertake community projects. The fellows and their projects:

— Kimberly M. Bishop-Stevens, state-wide substance-abuse coordinator at the Massachusetts Department of Social Services (Boston), who will organize people to advocate systemic change in the fields of substance abuse and child welfare.

— Anita W. Gaillard, director of community programs at the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency (Indianapolis), who will help communities develop campaigns to promote clean indoor air.

— Thomas R. Hill, senior policy associate at Health Systems Research (Washington), who will create a leadership-development program for organizations that provide substance-abuse recovery services.

— Donald J. Kurth, an associate professor and chief of services in addiction medicine in the chemical-dependency unit at Loma Linda U. Behavioral Medicine Center (Calif.), who will educate national policy makers about the effective treatment of addiction.

— Luis G. Manzo, staff psychologist and coordinator of alcohol and other drug treatment services at the University Counseling Center at the U. of Notre Dame (South Bend, Ind.), who will develop a computer-based screening and intervention program for youths.

— Deborah McLean Leow, associate director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s Northeast Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies (Newton, Mass.), who will help prepare people who provide substance-abuse prevention services to work in cross-cultural settings.

— Jodi L. Radke, a regional preven-tion specialist at the Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion and Education (Lakewood, Colo.), who will work to improve the Smoke Free Colorado program.

— Javier A. Sanchez, a prevention-program specialist at Youth to Youth International (Columbus, Ohio), who will help teenagers discover healthy alternatives to substance abuse and challenge false perceptions about drug use among their peers.

— Syed Pirzada Sattar, director of psychiatric service for the Substance Abuse Treatment Center at Omaha Veterans Administration Medical Center, who will study trends in the development of laws against substance abusers as well as laws that permit the involuntary commitment of dangerous substance abusers.

— Scott W. VanBenschoten, program coordinator for the day-reporting center at Chesterfield County Community Corrections (Chesterfield, Va.), who will work to improve his leadership and program-development skills to better plan programs for substance abusers who are receiving treatment rather than serving jail time.

Violence prevention. The California Wellness Foundation (Woodland Hills) has presented its 2003 California Peace Prizes to three violence-prevention advocates. The recipients, who each received a $25,000 cash prize:

— Karen Bass, founder and executive director of the Community Coalition of South Los Angeles, who among other things has helped turn the sites of more than 40 former liquor stores into grocery stores, family-counseling centers, and other businesses that benefit the community.

— Azim Khamisa, founder and president of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation (San Diego), who teaches youths about the consequences of violence and helps them handle conflict in nonviolent ways.

— Bo Taylor, founder of Unity One (Los Angeles), who works with gangs to negotiate truces and maintain cease-fire agreements.