by James Dowd, The Commercial Appeal, Memphis
May 12, 2005

The National Conference for Community and Justice will honor six people today for outstanding community leadership and their commitment to improving the quality of life in Memphis. Honorees will join 117 past winners. The awards were first handed out in 1962.

"This year's honorees represent a broad spectrum of our community and each have made specific contributions," said James Foreman, executive director of the NCCJ, Memphis Region. "Often, they've done this outside their professional lives for the truest of motives--to make the place they live better."

Recipients of the 2005 Humanitarian Awards are: George Elder, Rabbi Micah Greenstein, William J. Logue, Cathy Schanzer, Tom Lewis, and Shelby County Mayor A. C. Wharton.

Cathy Schanzer and her husband provide medical care to the disadvantaged and the elderly and make annual medical mission trips to Africa. She is establishing a permanent eye clinic and surgical center in Sierra Leone. Schanzer serves on the board of St. Peter Villa and is a member of the Serra Club of Memphis, a prayer support group for religious vocations.