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FLAT ROCK — Myra Grant, the first director of the Pardee Hospital Foundation and a mentor to many women at her workplace and in the community, on Thursday was named the 2012 recipient of the Athena Award, which is given in the memory of longtime community activist and businesswoman Vanessa Mintz.
Grant was nominated by Elizabeth Moss, a Pardee development officer. "Whether it's providing healthcare for uninsured women, helping young women get an education or reading with a young girl, Myra truly embodies the guiding principles and spirit of an ATHENA recipient," Moss wrote in a nomination letter.
Grant was recognized as one of the first advocates for women's health issues and for her work to establish the Pardee Foundation, which raises money for the county-owned hospital. She requested that the money raised for an endowment in her honor be directed to health programs benefiting women.
Grant became the first executive director of the foundation in 1996, leading the organization since then to raise more than $28 million, "creating a legacy of giving that will nurture the health of our community for years to come," Moss wrote.
One emblematic fundraising event is Women Helping Women, which Grant launched in 1998 along with a team of women volunteers. The event raises money to help needy and uninsured women get breast cancer screenings and other procedures. It has raised more thn $1.6 million and paid for cancer-prevention screenings for more than 1,000 women.
Grant, who is retiring in July, was selected from among 11 nominees. The nominees for the fifth annual ATHENA Award, presented by the Business and Professional Women, were honored at the annual awards program at Kenmure Country Club. The program also included keynote speaker Meridith Elliott Powell, the author of "The Power of Choice: 3 Secrets to Move from Frustration to Freedom."
Mintz, who was murdered in 2011, helped initiate the Athena Award locally. State Farm insurance agent Judy Stroud told the luncheon that the sale of red and black ribbons commemorating her death would raise money for families of murder victims, women who wanted to travel on a mission trip and education for women.
Stroud's State Farm agency and Morris Broadband were the main sponsors of the awards luncheon.
Here are thumbnail sketches of the nominees, their role, nominators in parentheses, and a quote: