AUGUSTA — The Maine Children’s Alliance is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2015 Giraffe Awards, which are awarded to heroes in the community who “stick out their necks” for Maine children, youth and families. Giraffe Award winners are advocates, service providers and policy-makers who routinely go above and beyond their job description, investing precious time, energy and talent in Maine kids.

The awards will be presented at the Maine Children’s Alliance’s annual Champions for Children Event at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, at the Green Ladle in Lewiston. The event will feature award-winning Maine author Maria Padian as the Keynote Speaker, Tree Street Youth Executive Director and former Giraffe Award winner, Julia Sleeper as MC, and feature music from the Pihcinthu Multinational Children’s Choir.

“This year, we were overwhelmed by the diverse range and roles of the nominees.” said Margaret Leitch Copeland, Chair of the Giraffe Awards Committee and Maine Children’s Alliance Board Member. “Each year, the Giraffe Awards remind us that it takes all efforts from all different sectors of our community to create enduring change for Maine children.”

The winners of the 2015 Giraffe Awards:

The Director’s Award will be presented to Sue Mackey Andrews. Andrews has dedicated her career to promoting policy change and advocating for Maine children and families. She currently sits on the Maine Children’s Growth Council and is co-founder and co-facilitator of the Maine Resilience Building Network.

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Judith Feinstein. In her career at the Maine CDC Oral Health Program, Feinstein consistently went above and beyond to find ways to improve oral health for Maine children.

The Corporate Award will be presented to Jim Wellehan of Lamey Wellehan. As president and co-owner of Lamey Wellehan, Wellehan developed and promoted workplace policies that worked for Maine families.

The Organization Award will be given to John Woods and Full Plates, Full Potential for their work on student hunger in the state of Maine. Full Plates, Full Potential has been influential in raising awareness about the prominence of child food insecurity and served on the Maine Legislature’s Special Task Force to End Student Hunger.

The Individual Award will be presented to Nakia Dana, Education Resource Coordinator for the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Indian Township. Dana has advocated for greater school resources and opportunities and collaborated with students to help them achieve the future they want and deserve.

The Youth Award has been awarded to My Place Teen Center. My Place Teen Center is a year found, free, after school program. The program serves Maine’s most vulnerable youth and provides them with food, resources and a place to grow and develop.

The Out-of-the-Box Award has been awarded to Donald Sanders, SAD 75 Bus Driver for his innovative Bus Book Bags Program. Sanders developed a literacy project for his bus route, which paired older elementary students with kindergartners for reading sessions during their bus route. Sanders saw an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of Maine kids and took it, despite the extra work on his end.

The 2015 Champions for Children Event, featuring the Giraffe Awards, is open to the public and tickets can be purchased on the Maine Children’s Alliance website.