For More Information Please Call:
Marge Sullivan, Palm Healthcare Foundation, 561.833.6333
Melanie Otero, The Waters Pelton Organization, 561.626.0026 ext 11
Jennifer Abbott, The Waters Pelton Organization, 561.626.0026 ext 19

WEST PALM BEACH, FL. – At 11:30 am on December 14, 2006 at the Kravis Center Cohen Pavilion, nearly 300 supporters, grantees and healthcare professionals gathered for Palm Healthcare Foundation’s 5th Anniversary Celebration. This celebration included a trip down memory lane as Palm Healthcare Foundation honored the many people who have contributed to the Foundation’s growth and success over the past five years including, David B. Robb, Jr. and Suzette W. Wexner who were instrumental in establishing the Foundation, and Robert Jaffe, current chair of Palm Healthcare Foundation.

A highlight of the celebration was the announcement of the Foundation’s 2006 Commitment to Community honorees. Each year the award is presented to individuals who provide outstanding voluntary leadership and have made significant contributions to strengthen healthcare in Palm Beach County. This year’s honoree’s include: Dr. Deborah Raines, Professor of Nursing at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University; Debbie Harding, LPN and lung cancer survivor; Dr. Seena Zierler-Brown, Associate Professor of Pharmacy at Palm Beach Atlantic University and founder of a primary care pharmacy program; Roxanne Stein, WPTV/News Channel 5 anchor who has been instrumental in Palm Healthcare Foundation’s Nursing Celebration Dinner; and the first organization to ever win the award – The Merrill Lynch Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Management—Lansing, Lacy, Hutcheon Group.

Keynote speaker, Lieutenant Colonel Consuelo Castillo- Kickbusch (retired), had the audience hanging on her every word as she told her story of overcoming the fierce challenges of poverty, discrimination and illiteracy in childhood. She applauded the work of the Foundation and its partners and supporters telling them, "You are dream makers...you have built a safety net for humanity."  Castillo-Kickbusch became the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Combat Support Field of the U. S. Army. In 1996, she founded Educational Achievement Services, Inc., and in 1998, helped found the Family Leadership Institute.

Another key highlight of the celebration was the unveiling of the plans for the new Palm

Healthcare Pavilion and the Mollie Wilmot Children’s Center, a state-of-the-art $12 million project designed to improve the health and quality of life for children with special healthcare needs, and provide innovative training and support services for their families through partnerships with the region’s leading academic medical institutions.

Guests of this informative and inspirational celebration included: Dr. Roy Cacciaguida, Rebel Cook, Joan Eigen, Lois Gackenheimer, Susan Keenan, Ellen Jaffe, Barbara Jacobowitz, Gerald Kisner, Jack Lansing, Jack and Jacquie Ligget , Patricia McCloskey, Edie Schur, Ruth Shapiro, Tim Tiller,  John Brogan and Mosse Hvide, and Jan Willinger.

In the past five years the Foundation has distributed more than $14 million to over 70 local non-profit organizations in Palm Beach County operating over 130 programs that met its funding goals. The Foundation's first grant of $250,000 in December 2001 went to Healthcare Emergency Response Coalition (HERC).  In November 2006, HERC launched a model program for others to follow, which has attracted worldwide attention.  The second grant of $150,000 was for scholarships in nursing and other allied health fields, and in the last five years the Foundation has granted almost $1 million in scholarships to nearly 400 local students.  The Foundation's largest grants to date were to Palm Beach Community College to establish an alternative nursing program offering night and weekend courses, and the start-up and support of Samaritan Gardens Community Health Center.

About Palm Healthcare Foundation, Inc.

Palm Healthcare Foundation, Inc. was chartered in 2001 as an independent community healthcare foundation. Believing that “Together We Can Do More,” the foundation’s mission is to transform healthcare challenges by bringing together the talents and resources of the community to create innovative solutions that deliver high-impact results. The Foundation’s funding priorities—access to healthcare, healthcare quality and safety, healthcare technology, healthcare policy and healthcare workforce—are designed to empower non-profit healthcare organizations and healthcare professionals to create programs and services that improve the quality of life for Palm Beach County’s underserved citizens.  Since 2001, the Foundation has distributed more than $14 million to over 70 non-profit organizations in Palm Beach County operating over 130 programs that met its funding goals.  To learn more about Palm Healthcare Foundation, please visit www.palmhealthcare.org.