The Lourie Center’s 25th Anniversary Event
Nurturing the Next Generation … Now!

The Lourie Center celebrated our 25th Anniversary at the Embassy of Finland on Oct. 13th, and is grateful for the gracious support of H.E. Ambassador Pekka Lintu and Mrs. Laurel Colless and the Embassy staff. With our major supporters, donors and Lourie Center advocates, in a beautiful setting with fabulous Finnish specialties, we had the chance to look back upon the accomplishments of the Lourie Center's past 25 years and forward to our goals for our direct service programs and research efforts to benefit young children and their families in the future.

Our sincere gratitude to the event co-chairs Diana England, Michelle Parker, and Marjorie Sonnenfeldt, for their leadership roles in ensuring the success of the evening. Colbert I. King, Pulitzer prize-winning columnist for the Washington Post and WTOP, was our Master of Ceremonies for the evening.

Dr. Rhoda Baruch received the prestigious Reginald S. Lourie award, and shared her memories of how Reg Lourie influenced her own research path in the 1980s.

Congressman Chris Van Hollen, a former Lourie Center Board member, joined Colby as an Honorary co-chair, and also presented two of our awards: to Congressman Patrick Kennedy for his commitment to mental health and early education legislation; and to Mark Shriver for his public service and dedication to at-risk youth as the Managing Director of U.S. program for Save the Children. Mark is also a former Lourie Center Board member. The cousins each spoke passionately about their own personal commitment to at-risk children and mental health in general, as well as their family's advocacy in general.

The Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust, which has funded the Lourie Center School for over 20 years, received an Outstanding Community Partner Award; the trustees commended the Lourie Center staff for our full commitment to our mission and for being a solid investment for philanthropy.

The event was our major fundraiser of the year, and we are thrilled to have surpassed our net goal of $75,000 -- to date, we have netted over $78,000! The Lourie Center's benefits help raise the "unrestricted" funds and awareness necessary to ensure that we meet our goal of providing excellent care and services to young children in our area during their first years of life.

Awardees: Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the Honorable Mark K. Shriver, Dr. Rhoda Baruch, and Terry Williams and William Bierbower of the Stewart Trust