Friday, March 19, 1999
Women of the Year's contributions celebrated
BY JULIE IRWIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Their lives and work are spent focused on others, but on Thursday 10 area women were the center of attention at The Enquirer's 31st annual Women of the Year Awards.
Selected from a group of 95 nominees, this year's honorees joined past winners at a Hyatt Regency luncheon. About 850 people celebrated the winners' contributions to social services, public health, the arts and philanthropy.
“It's humbling each year to gather again and hear the accomplishments of these women, who give so much to the community,” Enquirer publisher Harry Whipple said. “Thirty-one years, you go down the list of recipients for those years, and it's always a very impressive list of people.”
This year's winners were:
Sondra Thomas Britton, director of social services for Cincinnati Area Senior Services, Inc.;
Dr. Evelyn Hess, professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati;
Marie C. Huenefeld, whose work benefits the disabled and Children's Hospital Medical Center;
Betsy LaMacchia, an advocate for the Girl Scouts, Friends of the Library and the Civic Garden Center;
Melody Sawyer Richardson, arts patron;
Barbara Rosenberg, cooking columnist for The American Israelite;
Carole Rigaud, whose work benefits Lighthouse Youth Services and the Children's Defense Fund;
JoAnn Schwartz, an advocate for the homeless and Catholic peace and justice issues;
Sister Mary Stanton, executive director of Bethany House Services;
Lynn Stern, founder of the Wellness Community.
“It's very humbling,” Mrs. Schwartz said. “It's a little embarrassing too, but if it leads one other person to become involved, then it's worth it.”
This year the Enquirer and The Greater Cincinnati Foundation announced a partnership between the Women of the Year program and The Women's Fund. Leslie Bennett McNeill, a 1996 Woman of the Year who created The Women's Fund, said the two complemented each other.
“You build on the strength of the women in this room,” she said.
The fund supports the work of agencies and programs that serve the needs of women and girls in the Tristate, and it calls women to greater participation in philanthropy. The Funds Advisory Committee, which will include past Women of the Year, will help determine how to support area women and girls.
Gifts to The Women's Fund may be made in honor of any Woman of the Year, past or present. For more information, call Patricia Long, regional advancement officer of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation, 241-2880.
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