4 in BR named as award winners
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Four Baton Rouge residents are among eight Louisianians named as 2008 winners of the Angel Award presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana. The honor recognizes outstanding volunteer service on behalf of the state’s children.
A committee of past recipients of the award, now in its 14th year, considered 50 nominations from throughout the state before selecting Carolyn Carnahan, Shirley Porter, Dee Robinson and Ella Rein Wheeler, all of Baton Rouge; Ellen “Deedee” Suthon, of Covington; Chris Broussard, of Minden; Raymond Hicks, of Shreveport; and Cherry Seal, of Glenmora.
Carnahan founded Volunteers in Public Schools, insisting that whether students are enrolled in private or public schools, community members should be involved in public education.
Porter is the author of “You Are Sunshine,” a book to help children understand and cope with teasing, parental conflict and other difficulties that they may face in their early years.
Robinson founded Brave Heart — Children in Need, an organization for children who have been removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.
Wheeler, a retired educator, has implemented four successful volunteer programs at Buchanan Elementary School, a public school in one of Baton Rouge’s poorest neighborhoods.
A YWCA volunteer for more than 50 years, Suthon created programs at the New Orleans YWCA to serve women and children who were victims of domestic abuse.
Broussard has championed children’s involvement in the arts and regional culture for two decades, filling a gap in Webster Parish school curricula with art, music and dance instruction.
Hicks coordinates service-learning programs for African-American boys in the Caddo Parish School District through the Alliance for Community Development.
A migrant advocate for the Rapides Parish School Board, Seal works to see all migrant children enrolled in school equipped with what they need to be successful.
Each of the eight will receive a $20,000 grant for his or her charitable organization from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana Foundation. They will be honored at a presentation ceremony Monday, Oct. 27, at the Hilton Baton Rouge Capitol Center.
The 2008 Angel Award winners join more than 100 men and women from all walks of life who have been recognized since the program’s inception in 1995. Grants to the charitable causes chosen by honorees over the years now total more than $720,000.
For more information about the Angel Award, go to the Blue Cross Web site at http://www.bcbsla.com.
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