August 1, 2005

The Weller Center announces recipients of the 2005
Outstanding Friend to Kids award

The Weller Health Education Center has selected four honorees for its third annual Outstanding Friend to Kids Award ceremony to be held October 14, 2005. The award is given to individuals or organizations who have made a significant and positive impact on the health and well-being of children in the greater Lehigh Valley.

This year’s honorees include Dr. Leslie Carroll, the Women’s 5K Classic Committee, Kostas Kalogeropoulos, and the HEY (Health Education for Youth) consortium.

Dr. Carroll, chair of pediatrics at Sacred Heart Hospital, will receive the award for Community Service—Individual for making a difference in the lives of low income and uninsured children in Allentown. For their ongoing support of breast cancer awareness and research, the Women’s 5K Classic Committee will receive the Community Service—Organization award. Kostas Kalogeropoulos, founder of Dream Come True and Camelot for Children, will receive the Philanthropy award for his commitment to improving the quality of life for children with serious, chronic or terminal illnesses. Finally, the HEY (Health Education for Youth) consortium, consisting of Lehigh Valley Hospital, GlaxoSmithKline, AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan and CVS/pharmacy, will receive the Child Advocacy award for its work with the Weller Center to develop and implement a regional childhood asthma initiative.

The award ceremony will take place October 14, 2005 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn in Fogelsville, Pa. The program is presented by Beall and Marlene “Linny” Fowler. It is sponsored in part by Air Products and Chemicals, the Holiday Inn & Conference Center of Fogelsville and Sacred Heart Hospital. The Express-Times, the Morning Call and Lafayette Ambassador Bank provided additional funding for the program. The award sponsor is Binney & Smith.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Weller Center’s preventative health education programs and services. For more information, call Barbara Ann Shotwell, development director, at 610-258-8500, ext. 18.

About the Weller Health Education Center
The mission of the Weller Health Education Center is to measurably improve children’s lives by giving students the tools they need to make informed and healthy life choices. To accomplish this, each year the Center partners with more than 500 schools to supplement and enhance the teaching of health, character education and life science for students grades K through 12. The Center was the first not-for-profit health promotion, disease prevention education facility of its kind in Pennsylvania. Serving more than 1.2 million children since our inception in 1982, the Weller Center remains the only such center in our 39-county service area and one of just 34 health education centers across the nation.

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