October 21 Event Celebrates Youth and Honors Those Making a Difference

Oct. 14, 2008 - PRLog -- Media Contact:
Cindy Stranad
919.232.5008
cindy@articulon.com



RALEIGH, N.C. (October 14, 2008) — The John Rex Endowment will hold its fifth annual Hands of Health Award Breakfast on October 21. Celebrating investments in youth, the event will honor individuals for implementing innovative health-related initiatives that benefit Wake County’s underserved children and youth.

Young people participating in local programs funded by the John Rex Endowment will present their stories and discuss what the programs mean to them. Highlighted programs include: Girls on the Run, Planned Parenthood’s Teens Taking Action, YWCA’s All the Right Moves and the 4-H Development Program’s community-based Mapping Assets Project.

“This event is an opportunity to bring together people who have a mutual interest in the health and well-being of children and youth in our community,” says Kevin Cain, president and CEO of the John Rex Endowment. “We’re looking forward to hearing from our young participants and learning how their lives are being impacted by these programs.”

In addition, the Hands of Health Award will be presented to a leader who is improving the health of local children and youth. The winner will be honored with a specially commissioned bronze sculpture, and the John Rex Endowment will donate $10,000 to the winner’s charity of choice.

Past winners of the award include Peter Morris, MD, Don Rosenblitt, MD, Mark Piehl, MD, Yo Sobha, Kathy Higgins and Liliana Berman. On their behalf, the Endowment has made donations to the North Carolina Pediatric Society Foundation, the Lucy Daniels Center for Early Childhood, the Durham Rescue Mission/Good Samaritan Inn, Camp Challenge Diabetes Camp at Camp Oak Hill, Camp Grace at A.E. Finley YMCA, Be Active North Carolina and the Making Magic Alliance.

The invitation-only event will be held at the Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh. For more information on the Hands of Health award, visit: www.rexendowment.org/about/hoh.html.

About The John Rex Endowment:
The John Rex Endowment invests in the development and support of activities, programs and organizations that improve the health of underserved people in Wake and surrounding counties. Currently, the Endowment supports visible and measurable improvements in the health of children and youth by improving access to health services, by promoting healthy behaviors and by providing opportunities for growth and development. For more information, visit: www.rexendowment.org.