Today, HOPE was named the 2006 recipient of the Strategic Partner Award from The Children’s Center for the Physically Disabled. HOPE President Erica Lunsford (’08) and HOPE Founder and Past-President Jonathan Barry (’07) accepted the award at the annual luncheon of the Board of Directors of The Children’s Center for the Physically Disabled.

Awarded annually to community partners who provide service to The Children’s Center for the Physically Disabled, past recipients of the Strategic Partner Award include RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, Wachovia Corporation, Forsyth Medical Center Foundation, and Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.

Mike Britt, Executive Director of the Children’s Center, noted the significance of the Strategic Partner Award in saying, “Provided that previous Strategic Partner Award winners have been major corporations and foundations, for a service organization, as young and fresh as HOPE, to win such an award speaks volumes about their exemplary efforts.”

About HOPE:
HOPE is a collegiate student service organization that actively supports and engages mentorship of Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals for children with special needs. HOPE is a growing network of service chapters, affiliated with colleges, that serve their local community’s special needs schools and facilities. College student volunteers, called Hopesters, provide weekly one-on-one mentoring support for children with special needs to promote the academic, social and emotional development of each child served by the organization.