Vision for Children at Risk and its St. Louis Metropolitan Children?s Agenda initiative honored 14 individuals and organizations for their outstanding efforts on behalf of children. The awards were presented on Nov. 15 during the St. Louis Metropolitan Children?s Summit.

SSM Cardinal Glennon Children?s Medical Center received the ?Investing in Children? Award from Vision for Children at Risk for its longtime work promoting the health of children in the St. Louis region. Glennon has been a sponsor of the St. Louis Metropolitan Children?s Agenda since 2004 and a long-time sponsor of the Children of Metropolitan St. Louis Report produced by Vision for Children at Risk.

Receiving Children?s Champion Awards were:
? S.M. Wilson & Company, corporate involvement, for providing leadership and guidance to focus the construction industry on the developmental needs of underserved youth.
? Commerce Bank, philanthropic support, for long-term dedication to promoting the well-being of St. Louis area children, youth and families through projects such as area food banks donations, providing funding for college scholarships and mentoring youth.
? St. Louis Mental Health Board, governmental leadership, for organizing the community to address the crisis in the St. Louis Public Schools, and gaining financial support of children?s initiatives through the Children?s Services Fund tax in the city of St. Louis;
? State Rep. Jeanette Mott Oxford (59th District), governmental leadership, for being a strong advocate for children in Missouri Legislature, including introducing a bill that would establish a quality rating system for child-care facilities;
? The St. Louis American, media support, for providing extensive coverage of issues affecting children, youth, and families in the St. Louis region;
? Leslie Echterhoff, a student at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, youth leadership award, for volunteer service with the Nurses for Newborns Foundation;
? Ready Readers, volunteerism, for inspiring nearly 6,000 pre-school children who are living in poverty to begin reading;
? Cardinal Ritter Foster Grandparents, volunteerism, for its 85 trained Foster Grandparents who work with children in Headstart programs;
? Give Kids A Smile, volunteerism, for providing comprehensive dental care to over 5,700 children since 2002;
? Episcopal City Mission Chaplaincy to Children in Detention, faith community leadership, for providing nondenominational chaplaincy to children incarcerated in the juvenile detention centers of St. Louis City and County.

Three individuals were honored for exemplary service as child advocates and child-serving professionals:
? Dorothy Heltibrand, former executive director of the Family Support Network (1991-2006);
? Richard S. Kurz, Ph.D., dean of the School of Public Health in the Health Science Center at the University of North Texas, and formerly with the School of Public Health at St. Louis University;
? John Windom, executive director of community education for the St. Louis Public Schools.

?We are very proud of our award winners. They exemplify the excellent work that many people are doing to promote the well-being of children and youth in the St. Louis region.? said Richard Patton, executive director of Vision for Children at Risk.