Redbook Honors Ten Celebrities

Jada Pinkett Smith, Harry Connick Jr., Maria Menounos, Salma Hayek and Julia Louis-Dreyufus were among the 10 who received Strength and Spirit Awards from Redbook magazine Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2006, in New York. The ceremony was held at Avery Fisher Hall in Lincoln Center.

The magazine say the 10 honorees demonstrate how one person can make a difference in the world.

The honorees are:

• Actress Salma Hayek was cited for serving as national spokesperson for Avon's Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program, a million-dollar initiative to raise awareness about domestic abuse, which will touch 31 percent of American women.
• Molly Barker, a divorced mother of two, was cited for founding Girls on the Run, which brings together third- through eighth-grade girls for 12-week programs that combine training for a 5K race with self-esteem-boosting exercise.
• Actress Maria Menounos was saluted for starting Take Action Hollywood! (TAH!), an organizaton that galvanizes celebrity support for charities and causes dear to Menounos.
• Musician Harry Connick Jr. was honored for contributing proceeds from his music sales to New Orleans Habitat Musicians' Village, a housing project created by Connick and fellow musician and friend Branford Marsalis in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
• LaTosha Brown, a single mom and political organizer, was saluted for her efforts in the wake of Hurrican Katrina. She started a Web site for updates on Gulf Coast relief efforts, and devised a plan to fill a van with food and water and drive it to survivors in rural communities.
• Lindsay Nohr Beck,a cancer survivor and mother, was cited for launching Fertile Hope in New York City. Her organization is dedicated to providing reproductive information, support, and hope to cancer patients, as well as lobbying Congress for access to fertility treatments for those with cancer.
• TV star Julia Louis-Dreyfus was honored for her efforts to clean up the Santa Monica Bay.
• Actress Jada Pinkett Smith was honored for founding with her husband, actor Will Smith, the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation which works with grassroots organizations to promote inner-city development and youth education.
• Katherine Chon and Tina Frundt, Brown University classmates who founded the Polaris Project (the name alludes to the North Star that guided slaves along the Underground Railroad) in Washington, D.C. Their goals: to rehabilitate victims and lobby for stronger anti-trafficking laws.