Stay tuned for information about our new four-year grant program focusing on promoting resilience in traumatized children. The guidelines will be distributed at the beginning of February.
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our 2012 Theater Event, "Come Fly Away", featuring the music of Frank Sinatra and the amazing choreography of Twyla Tharp. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Awards
The Benjamin Gingiss Award
The Benjamin Gingiss award recognizes lifetime achievement for an individual who has furthered the welfare of Illinois Children. Benjamin Gingiss was a past leader of Bright Promises’ predecessor organization - the Illinois Humane Society. He was an entrepreneur and philanthropist who cared greatly about the welfare of Illinois children.
2011's recipient was Dr. Katherine Kaufer Christoffel, a lifetime children's advocate. She is a founder of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC) and has published numerous studies on childhood obesity. She has also spear-headed local and national efforts to reduce the effects of violence on child health and welfare. Dr. Christoffel has mentored fellows and junior faculty who became independent researchers in areas ranging from child development to injure prevention and practice-based research. Dr. Christoffel is currently a professor of pediatrics ad preventative medicine and the director of the Community Engaged Research Center of the NUCATS Institute at Northwestern University. She is also Deputy Director of the Feinberg School of Medicine's Programs in Public Health and an attending physician at Children'a Memorial Hospital.
The Ed Marciniak Bright Star Award
The Bright Star award is given to an individual who shows great motivation, enthusiasm and promise in exemplifying the Foundation's mission of benefiting disadvantaged children in Illinois. The award is accompanied by a $5,000 honorarium to be used to further the recipient's career. (Nominees have to submit a short application.)Ed Marciniak was a past Director who served in many positions which benefited children and their families. He was a valued Board member from 1955 until his death in 2004.
The 2011 Bright Star recipient was Casey Holstschneider. For eight years, Casey was the Associate Director of Programs at Teen Living Programs, working with homeless children and teens. Casey left the organziation to attend a doctorate program at the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Adams College of Social Work.
We welcome your nominations. To nominate individuals for the Gingiss and/or Marciniak Bright Star awards, please click here to download the nomination forms. Nominations for our 2012 awards are due by March 31st, 2012. If you have any questions, please contact Lauren Krieg at lauren.krieg@brightpromises.org.
Many parents are strapped for time, perhaps working several jobs to make ends meet. They rush home from work and grab a box of high fat and sodium macaroni and cheese with a bottle of soda, or maybe they grab a cheap meal at a fast food restaurant for their kids. After dinner the kids play video games or watch TV before bed.
The Bright Promises Foundation recognizes that parents have a huge impact on their children’s behavior. Permanent changes will not occur in children’s lives unless their parents are also learning about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, which is why all of the programs funded by BPF include an education component to engage parents as well.
