Stu Bykofsky | The 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians
HERE, EXCLUSIVELY in the print press, you are meeting the 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians. It's a list that was created over the summer by Dunkin' Donuts and the Philadelphia Eagles, which solicited nominations through the Eagles Web site to tie in with the celebration of the Eagles' 75th anniversary.
HERE, EXCLUSIVELY in the print press, you are meeting the 75 Greatest Living Philadelphians.
It's a list that was created over the summer by Dunkin' Donuts and the Philadelphia Eagles, which solicited nominations through the Eagles Web site to tie in with the celebration of the Eagles' 75th anniversary.
The announcement coincides with tonight's home opener.
Hundreds were nominated.
The selection committee favored those who had given back to the community and demonstrated an "ability to motivate, inspire and improve those around them."
Dunkin' and the Eagles asked me to highlight five of them here.
On the job for three years and three months, Alba Martinez, president and chief executive officer of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, is a chronic overachiever.
She entered Georgetown Law School at 19 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1985 to join Community Legal Services.
The Puerto Rico-born executive, 44, calls United Way "a very powerful collective vehicle to improve the lives of people who need help in our communities."
People know Alba is upbeat, but few know she is on the beat.
She's a self-taught, "avid musician" who used to play, "in my earlier years, in Latin American music bands."
She plays percussion and a host of string instruments.
How might she be persuaded to perform in public?
"A big contribution to the United Way will do the trick," she laughs.
"If you're in this world and you're not giving, what's the reason for you being here?" asks Billy Gambrel, who has given a lot to local kids and his Frankford community.
A home-improvement contractor, 71-year-old "Mr. Bill" gave his heart to the youth as a co-founder (40 years ago) of the legendary Frankford Chargers Pop Warner football team.
The Simon Gratz grad (he played defensive end and cornerback) is now on the advisory council for his local rec center and is a vice president of the Chargers.
In 1997, the rec center, at Ditman and Margaret streets, was renamed the Billy Gambrel Recreation Center to honor him.
Because she was "a teenage mom myself, I really believe I'm making a difference in the lives" of the youth served by the Police Athletic League, says PAL Commander Lt. Susan Slawson, 45.
The West Philly High and Geneva College grad is a 20-year veteran of the police force - and is also an ordained minister at her church, Christ Community Church, 4017 Chestnut St.
Each of the city's 27 PAL centers is supervised by a Philadelphia police officer, and one of Slawson's jobs is to see they are properly trained, because they do more than turn on lights and hand out basketballs.
The officers, she says, "are surrogate mothers and fathers, and sometimes the only stability in the children's lives."
In her own life are her children Patricia, 31, and Michael, 9, and her husband, Michael, who works for the school district.
Nuns are supposed to do good works, but Sister Mary Scullion, 54, born in Oxford Circle, has surpassed what any but the most optimistic would have expected when she co-founded Project HOME.
The St. Joe's and Temple alum took her vows in 1972.
She started her mission with Project HOME in 1989, dedicated to working with the homeless "to break the cycle of homelessness through housing, employment, education and health care."
Ending homelessness is not chemistry, but there is a formula. It takes "political will to deal with the systemic issues," the single-most-important "cure" being affordable housing, while the single-most-important preventative is "a quality education for every single child," she says.
As we talked Friday, Scullion was preparing to run in Sunday's half-marathon, her "third or fourth."
She's happy that she finishes, not concerned about her position.
Her position in Philadelphia is already assured.
Joan McConnon, Project HOME's founder and chief financial officer, brought to the table a good heart and a good mind, trained in finance and accounting at Penn State and Drexel.
As a student, the 47-year-old native of Springfield, Delaware County, volunteered at homeless shelters, noticed "a proliferation of people sleeping in doorways, and it just struck me that was unacceptable and I had to do something to change that," she says.
That led to abandoning her lucrative career path and linking with Sister Mary Scullion.
Married for 12 years, with three children, Joan finds the saddest part of homelessnes is "the idea that somebody had been disconnected from family, friends and the rest of the community."
Project HOME has helped some 6,000 people. *
THE REST OF THE SPECIAL PEOPLE
Lynne Abraham, Philadelphia district attorney, community activist; Mark Baiada, health-care advocate and founder, Bayada Nurses; Sally Berlin, longtime contributor and board member, Police Athletic League; Marcella Bossow Schankweiler, founder and director, Crossing the Finish Line; Joseph Callan, special-events manager for Fairmount Park Commission, senior advisor for Philadelphia Special Events Task Force, community volunteer.
Deborah Calvert, pediatric social worker, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; David L. Cohen, Comcast executive vice president, former chairman of Southeastern Pennsylvania xhapter of the American Red Cross, former chairman of United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania; Robin Cohen, founder and executive director of Sandy Rollman Ovarian Cancer Foundation, Inc.; Carlton Dampier, M.D., St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, Sickle Cell Anemia Care; Elizabeth Dow, president and CEO, Leadership Philadelphia; Fran Dunphy, Temple University men's basketball coach, member of the board of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Greater Philadelphia.
Jack Eggert, World War II veteran and longtime volunteer at Gloria Dei church; Patrick Eiding, president of Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, acting chair of City Planning Commission, community activist; Kara Fraiman, founder, Ashley's Angels (in support of palliative care); Henry Gibbs, pastor of Greater BibleWay Temple, community volunteer; Jane Golden, founder and director, Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program; Dan Greene, longtime volunteer, Franklin Institute; Pauline Greene, longtime volunteer, Franklin Institute.
Louis Grow, social worker, Child Abuse Prevention Effort; Gloria Guard, president, People's Emergency Center Community Development Corp.; Mary Lou Haughney, long-time volunteer, Special People in the Northeast, Inc.; Mary Jane Hazell, president of Somerton Civic Association, community activist; Jonathan Grabelle Herrmann, executive director, Campus Philly; Sonny Hill, founder, Sonny Hill Community Involvement League; Ron Jaworski, former Eagles quarterback, Jaws Youth Fund, United Way; Dorothy Johnson-Speight, founder, director Mothers in Charge.
Camara Jordan, community- relations manager, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania; Tammy Kang, M.D., pediatric oncologist, palliative-care program at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Dan Kazanicka, director, Narberth Basketball League, director, annual Mr. D Golf Outing; Maryann Keenan, M.D., chief, neuro-orthopedics at University of Pennsylvania; C.B. Kimmins, community activist, co-founder of Mantua Against Drugs; Lew Klein, founder of National Association of Television Program Executives Educational Foundation, former board chairman of Police Athletic League; Louis "Red" Klotz, basketball ambassador, active in Margate civic affairs and in getting scholarships for Atlantic City youth.
Jon Kromer, volunteer firefighter/EMT, Thorndale Fire Company, and combat medic in Afghanistan; Chad Dion Lassiter, community activist, Operation Understanding, and Black Men at Penn School of Social Work, Inc.; Len Law, president, Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial Society; Marie Lawler, teacher, active volunteer and tutor in Camden; Pamela Rainey Lawler, founder, board of trustees, Philabundance; Bishop Robert Maginnis, auxiliary bishop to Cardinal Justin Rigali; William J. Marrazzo, president and chief executive officer of WHYY, community volunteer.
Mary Mason, community activist, radio-talk-show host; Erin McCool, education-programs coordinator, Philadelphia Zoo; Bruce E. McElrath, founder, Disabilities Rights Advocacy Group Inc.; the Most Rev. Joseph P. McFadden, auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia and former president of Cardinal O'Hara H.S.; Harry J. McHugh, chair, American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania; Shannon Meehan, U.S. Army, serving in Iraq; Larry Mendte, CBS3 anchor, community activist; Lisa Mesi, teacher, advocate for education; Patrick Murphy, congressman, Iraqi War veteran; Jim Murray, former Eagles general manager, co-founder of first Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia.
Yvonne Newkirk, Kidney Transplant Program Team at Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and spokeswoman of Breast Cancer Awareness; Benjamin S. Ohrenstein, chair, legal counsel, volunteer, the ALS Association Greater Philadelphia chapter board of trustees; Sharon Pinkenson, executive director, Greater Philadelphia Film Office; Diego Ramos, Q102 morning-show personality, longtime community volunteer; Thomas Riethof, longtime volunteer and instructor, American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania; Charles "Chip" Roach, philanthropist, social entrepreneur and founder of A Better Philadelphia, Inc.; Rudard Robinson, activist, We the People Living with AIDS, Preventing HIV Project and Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition; Linda Rosanio, co-founder and CEO, the Star Group, chapter board, American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania, and vice president of marketing, Eagles Fly for Leukemia.
Bertram A. Ruttenberg, M.D., founder, Center for Autism in Philadelphia; Gordon Schwartz, M.D., co-founder, Foundation for Breast and Prostate Health; Liz Scott, vice president of development, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation; Jay Scott, executive director, Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation; Dawn Staley, Temple women's basketball coach, founder of the Dawn Staley Foundation; Miriam Standhardt, longtime volunteer, Salvation Army, Meals on Wheels and Lions Club; Thomas Staunton, Philadelphia police officer; Andy Talley, Villanova football coach and Football United for Life; Maria Tate, counselor, Women Against Abuse and Carson Valley School; Donna Trigone, nurse and ambassador, the Arthritis Foundation; Solomon Volen, longtime community volunteer, American Red Cross Disaster Services, USO, VA Hospital and Veterans Home.
Also, Judy Wicks, humanitarian and founder of the White Dog Cafe. *
E-mail stubyko@phillynews.com or call 215-854-5977. For recent columns: