2002 ANDRE SOBEL AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Year 2002 Andre Sobel Award Recipients

Valerie Sobel, president and founder of the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation, announced the 2002 Andre Sobel Award first place winner is Emily Camille Kreft, a 20-year-old cancer survivor from St. Charles, Missouri.

In announcing the award Mrs. Sobel said, " Emily is a winner in many ways -- she's courageous, intelligent, and generous of spirit as well as a creative artist and writer. Emily's story is a wonderful example of how, as the First Place Award recipient, she will carry on with her life as Andre would have, with strength and compassion.".

The Award will be presented to Emily at the Profiles of Courage event on June 8 -- an annual gala sponsored by The Children's Cancer Committee, a support group for the Jonathan Jaques Children's Cancer Center of Miller Children's Hospital in Long Beach, California. For information on attending the event, please call our office at: (310) 276-7111. Jonathan Jaques is an affiliated partner of our Foundation -- click on "Affiliated Partners" for more information.

Emily was first diagnosed in 1990, at St. Louis Children's Hospital, with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She will celebrate ten years post-bone marrow transplant at the end of this year. Although she suffered many setbacks during her treatment and recovery, this only encouraged her to search for deeper meaning in her suffering, which gave her an even closer sense of community with those around her. She is now a junior at St. Louis University, and she will graduate with a Bachelor's degree in English, a minor in Psychology and Theology, and a certificate in Women's Studies. Emily is well on her way to a bright, fulfilling, and promising future.

The Andre Sobel Award was established to honor young cancer survivors and to enable them to fulfill a cherished desire as they proceed with their lives in a way that was not possible for Andre. (Click on "Who was Andre Sobel?") The annual $5,000 cash award is to be used in any way the recipient chooses. A panel of judges selected the winning essays based on the topic "The Letter I Would Like To Have Received From a Friend or Relative During My Illness."

For more information, please contact Info@AndreRiverOfLife.org