Awards, Oct 30, 1997

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

Children. The National Association of Child Advocates (Washington) has presented the following 1997 Child Advocates Awards:

— The Florette Angel Memorial Award, which went to Jetta Bernier of the Massachusetts Committee for Children and Youth (Boston) for various accomplishments, including a successful class-action lawsuit that improved the care of abused and neglected children by the State of Massachusetts.

— The NACA Child Advocate Volunteer Awards, which went to Daryl Barrett of Utah Children (Salt Lake City), who spearheaded development of the “You’re in Charge” abuse-prevention curriculum, and to Louise Pittman of Voices for Alabama’s Children (Montgomery), who has worked or volunteered at child-advocacy groups for more than 60 years.

— The Corporate/Foundation Child Advocacy Award, which went to the Woods Charitable Fund (Lincoln, Neb.) for its “steadfast, innovative” support of child-advocacy issues in Nebraska.

— The Professional Advocate Award, which went to Gaylord Gieseke of Voices for Illinois Children (Chicago), whose accomplishments include development of the “Healthy Families” home-visitation program for families at risk for child abuse or neglect.

Community service. The Chicago Community Trust has given its 1997 James Brown IV Award of Excellence for Outstanding Community Service to Uhlich Children’s Home (Chicago), which has worked with neglected, abused, and troubled children since its founding in 1869. The award carries an unrestricted $50,000 grant, which the organization will use to expand the Academy, its new special-education school.

Health. The United Hospital Fund (New York) has presented its 1997 Distinguished Community Service Award to Richard Cotton, executive vice-president and general counsel of the National Broadcasting Company (New York), for his work as chairman of the Primary Care Development Corporation (New York), a public-private partnership created in 1993 to expand primary-care services for low-income people in New York City.

Minority participation. The National Coalition on Black Voter Participation (Washington) has presented Spirit of Democracy Awards to the following three individuals for their work to increase voter registration and political participation by black Americans: Donna Frisby, acting executive director of Rock the Vote (Santa Monica, Cal.); Joseph E. Lowery, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Atlanta); and John N. Sturdivant, national president of the American Federation of Government Employees (Washington). NCBVP also presented the award to three organizations: the African-American Institute (New York), the National Council of La Raza (Washington), and the Organization of Chinese Americans (Washington). The coalition’s Lifetime Achievement Award was presented posthumously to Frank R. Parker, a lawyer and author who served as director of the Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (Washington) and who worked on dozens of voting-rights legal cases.

Public advocacy. The Tides Foundation (San Francisco) has presented its Jane Bagley Lehman Award for Excellence in Public Advocacy to Tom Beanal and Richard Moore. Mr. Beanal, an elder in the Indonesian province of Irian Jaya, is the principal litigant in a $6-billion class-action lawsuit again Freeport McMoRan (New Orleans), which operates a massive gold mine that has poisoned the water and destroyed the environment of his people, the Amungme. Mr. Moore, coordinator of the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice (Albuquerque, N.M.), recently completed a three-year term as chair of the Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and has played a key role in public education on toxic contamination in minority and low-income communities.

Public broadcasting. The Public Broadcasting Service (Alexandria, Va.) has presented its 1997 Public Television Leadership Awards, which recognize volunteers who have made substantial contributions to public television, to the following people:

— Bob Behnke, past board chairman of KCTS (Seattle), who helped create the Fund for Programming Excellence, which enables the station to create new productions and buy special programs.

— Barbara and Larry Kellar, long-time volunteers at WCET (Cincinnati), who currently are co-chairs of the station’s major-giving program.

— Alice Martin, past board president of WNIT (Elkhart, Ind.), who helped bring the Sesame Street Preschool Education Project into local child-care centers and homes.

— Charles Swindells, former chairman of Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland) and founding chairman of the OPB Foundation, who is currently leading the organization’s $36-million capital campaign.

Public interest. The Stern Family Fund (Arlington, Va.) has presented its Public Interest Pioneer awards, which provide $100,000 grants to start advocacy projects, to two individuals: Charles Sheketoff, a lawyer who will create the Oregon Center for Public Policy, which will work on various tax and budget policies affecting low- and moderate-income Oregon residents; and Norman Solomon, a journalist and author who will create the Institute for Public Accuracy, which will monitor the press releases of the nation’s major think tanks.