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We went to the 2005 Marian Anderson Award Gala, honoring Ruby Dee and the late Ossie Davis, at the Kimmel Center on Monday, October 24. They are terrific artists and humanitarians. We heard about their achievements, political views, and awards that they have been honored in their long careers. Along with the Philadelphia Orchestra, we saw :

Thomas Wilkins, Conductor of the Detroit Symphony
Robin Roberts, ABC News Host, Good Morning America
Denyce Graves, Opera Singer
Nancy Wilson, Jazz Vocalist
Jill Scott, Philadelphia Jazz and Rhythm and Blues Singer
Harry Belafonte, Speaker
Sonia Sanchez, Philadelphia Poet
Sweet Honey in the Rock, Sextet captures the sounds of the Blues, spirituals, traditional gospel hymns, rap, reggae, African chants, jazz improvisation, etc. etc.
Pamela A Crawley, Board Chairman of the Marian Anderson Award
Milton Street, Mayor of Philadelphia


(Please note: Rosa Parks, whose act of defiance on an Alabama bus 50 years ago was the tipping point in the U.S. civil rights movement, dead October 24 at 92.)



::Shelley

So long to John van Hengel. In the late 1960s, van Hengel was divorced and went about a plan to change his life. He quit his career in public relations and moved to Phoenix, Ariz., and "stumbled into do-gooding," he once said: he decided to help feed hungry people. "One day I tried to pawn off this idea of mine on the priests at St. Mary's," he remembered. "I told them what we needed in this town was a clearinghouse for all the surplus food from the various markets -- food just getting thrown away -- and they said, 'Good idea. Do it.' They got me a building and a little funding so quick I couldn't get out of it." Later, a surprise donation of $10,000 really got things into gear. It was 1967, and van Hengel had created the first "food bank". In its first year, the St. Mary's Food Bank distributed about 250,000 pounds of food. In its last fiscal year, it distributed about 60 million pounds of food. Van Hengel went on to consult with other cities on how to set up food banks. He also helped found America's Second Harvest, an association of more than 200 food banks. He died October 5 in a Phoenix hospice. He was 83.