June
7, 2010 LOS ANGELES - Carolyn Blashek, founder of Operation Gratitude,
the military support organization that sends care packages to deployed
troops, is among five recipients of the Minerva Award, honoring women
"who serve on the front-lines of humanity," California's First Lady announced on Good Morning America last
week. Blashek was selected for the award along with Oprah Winfrey
and former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Maria Shriver will personally present the honorees with their awards on Oct.
26, 2010 at a special ceremony during the afternoon session of The Women's
Conference at the Long Beach Convention Center. Tickets for the event go on sale at 9am PST on June 23.
The other honorees are:
~Oral Lee Brown, founder of the Oral Lee Brown Foundation, which provides
educational assistance and financial scholarships to school children.
~Sister Terry Dodge, executive director of Crossroads Inc., which provides
transitional housing, education, career and counseling services and support to
women released from prison.
~Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman Associate Supreme Court
Justice, and founder of Ourcourts.org, a web-based education program
designed to teach students civics and inspire them to become active
participants in our democracy.
~Oprah Winfrey, founder of the Oprah Angel Network and the Oprah Winfrey
Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
"This
year's Minerva Award honorees are women who live with a
deep sense of purpose and who are passionately dedicated to serving
others," Shriver said. "These Minervas all identified problems
and unmet needs in their communities and have worked tirelessly to solve
them,'' she said. "By honoring them, we hope to inspire others to be 'Architects of Change' just like them."
"I
am honored to be in the company of so many extraordinary women who
have received the Minerva," said Blashek. "I am particularly grateful
for this award because it is a public acknowledgment of the many great Americans
who participate in Operation Gratitude, and a thoughtful tribute to our
courageous Military heroes who inspire all of us" she added.
Named for the Roman goddess Minerva who graces the California State Seal, the
awards were founded by Shriver in 2004 to "honor remarkable women who, in
the spirit of Minerva, changed California and the nation with their courage,
wisdom and strength.''
Minerva Award winners receive $25,000 grants from the conference to further
their work.
Shriver
is joined again this year by Target, which is partnering with The Women's
Conference to present The Minerva Awards ceremony for the seventh consecutive
year.
"Target is proud to continue its support of the Minerva Awards and
celebrate the contributions of these five amazing women," said Laysha
Ward, President, Community Relations, Target. "By honoring their
outstanding accomplishments and sharing their stories, we hope to instill a
passion of life-long learning and empower all women to be strong and dynamic
leaders."
For the second straight year, The Women's Conference invited the public to
participate in its Minerva Award research through an online recommendation
process via its Web site. This year's honorees were selected from a pool
of more than 1,000 candidates, 200 of whom originated from the online
recommendation process. The pool of candidates was vetted and narrowed down by
a conference research team. Shriver then selected the honorees from a list of
20 finalists.
Past Minerva Award recipients have included former First Lady Betty Ford
('05), Dr. Jane Goodall ('09), Billie Jean King ('08), Dr.
Sally Ride ('06), Eunice Kennedy Shriver ('07), and Gloria Steinem ('08).
