Business Services Industry

OKC Events: June 19, 2008

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jun 19, 2008 by Joan Gilmore

HeartLine's Festival of Hope will recognize the power of hope at An Evening of Acclamation and Admiration on Aug. 22 at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel. This will be the seventh annual Festival produced by HeartLine, Central Oklahoma's Community Connection.

The evening will begin at 7 p.m. and will spotlight three individuals, an organization and a local middle school for the differences they've made.

The 2008 honorees are Linda Lambert, president of Lasso, an investment corporation specializing in oil and gas development and Petree Valley Farms; the late Zach Taylor, executive director for almost 30 years of the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments; and Brenda McDaniel, first lady of Oklahoma City University, who has implemented many student involvement movements in the university.

Also to be honored is the Tree Bank Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to building a stronger sense of community through the promotion, development and management of urban forestry projects.

This year's Audrey Hatley Award will go to Jefferson Middle School for excelling in suicide education and awareness.

Through its honorees and social event, Festival of Hope strives to raise awareness about suicide, which is an alarming problem in Oklahoma. The state ranks ninth in the nation in the number of annual deaths by suicide.

Reservations for the dinner, auction and entertainment are $125 per person. For information about tickets, sponsorships or HeartLine, call (405) 840-3936.

Red Cross benefit

A fundraising campaign to benefit the Oklahoma chapter of the American Red Cross is under way, sponsored by AAA Oklahoma and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. The campaign will continue through June 30.

Donations for the Red Cross are being accepted at all full- service AAA Travel offices across the state, with all donors eligible for drawings for Royal Caribbean prize merchandise and/or a discount on a RCDL cruise booked at AAA.

All donations will support the Red Cross chapter in the city in which it is given. AAA Travel has full-service agency offices in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Muskogee, Norman, Edmond, Del City, Ardmore and Bartlesville. For more information, call (800) 222- 2582.

People of the year

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society presented its second annual Man and Woman of the Year Grand Finale at Gaillardia Country Club.

They are Cherokee Ballard of Oklahoma City and Dr. Stephen Banks, Shawnee.

Ballard, a KFOR television news reporter, raised more than $25,000. She is a nine-year non-Hodgkin lymphoma survivor.

Banks, from the Shawnee Medical Center Clinic, raised more than $24,000 during the direst weeks of his life. He's battling acute myeloid leukemia.

Other finalist candidates for the honors included Amy McRee and Dylan Terhune, both of Oklahoma City; Connie Pearson of Tulsa, and Rick Spring of Edmond.

For more information about Oklahoma's Man & Woman of the Year Campaign or to learn more about volunteering, call (405) 943-8888 or visit www.manwomanoftheyear.org/ok.>