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Media Contact:
Emily Carter
Sister Cities International
1301 Pennsylvania Ave Ste 850
Washington, DC 20004
Phone 202.347-8630 ext. 4005
ecarter@sister-cities.org
SISTER CITIES INTERNATIONAL ANNOUNCES ANNUAL AWARDS WINNERS
Communities Recognized for Excellence & Innovation in Building Partnerships Globally
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 3, 2005
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Sister Cities International will honor twelve communities for their outstanding sister city programs during their annual conference this summer. Phoenix, Arizona received multiple awards. Top honors recognized programs throughout the U.S.
The diversity of programs recognized through the awards competition is indicative of the sister city movement, said organizers. "Our programs would be non-existent without the commitment of our volunteers working diligently with local government and fostering ties between local and partner communities," said Tim Honey, executive director of Sister Cities International. "Innovation and adaptation are the hallmarks of our network, and we are delighted to recognize these outstanding member communities for their achievements in citizen diplomacy."
Best Overall Program Awards went to: New Ulm, Minnesota (Population Less than 25,000), Tooele City, Utah (Population 25,000 to 50,000), Lexington, Kentucky (Population 100,000 to 300,000) and Phoenix, Arizona (Population Greater than 500,000).
New Ulm - contact: Kurt Wittmershaus 507.354.8221, ext.259, wittmeka@mlc-wels.edu Tooele City - contact: Karen Hunter 435.830.7900, hunterhaven@hotmail.com Lexington - contact: Kay Sargent 859.258.3137, kays@LFUCG.com Phoenix - contact: Rick Gerrard, 602. 534.3751, rick.gerrard@phoenix.gov
The Innovation Award for Arts & Culture will go to Cincinnati, Ohio for their production of "Under Fire," a powerful documentary on women in Cincinnati's sister city of Kharkiv, Ukraine who served in combat in World War II. The making of the documentary required community input and involvement. The documentary's preview brought together 325 attendees for a heartfelt experience seeing the inspirational stories of these veterans. Local contact: Jan Sherbin 513.241.8833, info@cincy-ukraine.org.
The Innovation Award for Humanitarian Assistance: Population Less Than 100,000 will be awarded to Palm Desert, California for their commitment to improving the lives of citizens in their sister city Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico. After an exploratory trip in 2003 in which the Sister City Committee visited a new hospital that was empty and in dire need of medical supplies, the committee came home and set to work corralling needed resources. They've sent a fire engine, two ambulances, a MASH unit and medical equipment to their sister city. Local contact: Donna Gomez 760.568.1441, ortegarose@aol.com
The Innovation Award for Humanitarian Assistance: Population Greater Than 100,000 will go to Fort Worth, Texas. After signing Mbabane, Swaziland as their seventh sister city, Fort Worth Sister Cities International began to contribute to Mbabane's technological advancement and address immediate healthcare needs. After securing grants and partnering with "Wheelchairs for Peace," 100 computers and 280 wheelchairs were sent to their sister city. Local contact - Barclay Berdan 817.882.2106, barclayberdan@texashealth.org .
The Innovation Award for Sustainable Development will honor Phoenix, Arizona and its professional exchange with the Chengdu, China Fire Department. The firefighters from their sister city gave their training high marks, and the emergency personnel carried useful knowledge back to their own fire department. Local contact: Rick Gerrard, 602. 534.3751, rick.gerrard@phoenix.gov
The Innovation Award for Youth & Education - Population less than 100,000 will go to Boyertown, Pennsylvania for their teacher exchange with Bohodukhiv, Ukraine. After teachers from Bohodukhiv taught in the Boyertown Area School District in 2003, teachers from Boyertown traveled to Ukraine in 2004. They visited town schools, village schools, a kindergarten, a special needs school, an orphanage and a medical school. They made people-to-people connections, stimulated interest in future student exchange and extended an official invitation for the mayor to visit Boyertown in 2005. Local contact: Pamela Ferraro 610.369.7427, teachpa1@yahoo.com.
The Innovation Award for Youth & Education - Population Greater than 100,000 will go to San Diego, California for their efforts in Jalalabad, Nangarhar, Afghanistan. San Diego~Jalalabad Sister Cities Committee built and equipped a K-12 school, distributed 6,000 English language dictionaries, set up a partnership between Nangarhar University and San Diego State University, helped enhance Nangarhar University's English as a Second Language program, equipped the Afghan Women's Development Center, provide medical books for Nangarhar Medical school, and chartered the Rotary Club of Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Local contact: Cynthia Villis, Ph.D. 858.344.9052, cynvillis@att.net
The NOD Disability Advocacy award will be presented to the Phoenix Sister Cities Commission in Arizona for their working visit of Disability Awareness Committee members to Grenoble, France. This trip became a forum for exchanging ideas on issues of critical importance to disabled residents living in each city. Participants discussed accessible housing, transit, adaptive recreation and rehabilitation from brain injuries. Grenoble will send a reciprocal disabilities awareness delegation to Phoenix in 2005. Local contact: Rick Gerrard, 602.534.3751, rick.gerrard@phoenix.gov.
Each program will receive a Sister Cities International commendation during the Lou Wozar Annual Awards Ceremony at the Sister Cities International Annual Conference in Spokane, Washington on July 30, 2005. The Annual Awards Program was established in 1962 to recognize outstanding sister city programs. These programs demonstrate to other communities how to incorporate innovative ideas and exchanges into their own sister city program. Winners were selected by a distinguished panel of judges for achievements made in 2004.
Representing more than 2,300 communities in 127 countries, Sister Cities International (www.sister-cities.org) is a citizen diplomacy network creating and strengthening partnerships between the U.S. and communities abroad. Begun in 1956 after a White House summit where U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower called for people-to-people exchanges, sister city partnerships are tailored to local interests and increase global cooperation at the grassroots level. Sister Cities International promotes peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation by focusing on sustainable development, youth and education, arts and culture, humanitarian assistance and economic growth programs.
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