The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, based in Agoura Hills, has awarded its annual $2 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize to the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Control, Bangladesh, or iccdr,b. Headquartered in Dhaka, Bangladesh, iccdr,b has advanced medical care in developing countries for more than 50 years. What began as a laboratory for studying cholera treatments has grown into a world-class research institution that tackles an array of public health problems, from Hepatitis E to climate change. The foundation created the Hilton Humanitarian Prize in 1996 to recognize organizations around the world working to alleviate human suffering. The recipient is chosen by a jury that includes past and present heads of the World Health Organization and UNICEF as well as Dr. Gro Brundtland, former prime minister of Norway. Previous award winners include Doctors Without Borders, the Task Force for Global Health and Heifer International. “What impressed the jury the most about icddc,b was the magnitude of what they’ve been able to do in terms of saving lives,” said Peter Laugharn, chief executive of the Hilton Foundation. Oral hydration solution, which icddc,b helped develop back in the 1960s, is routinely used today to treat life-threatening cholera symptoms. “Even that one intervention has saved 50 million lives in the last 50 years of children who otherwise would have died,” Laughard said. “Part of the beauty of it is that it is really inexpensive.” The humanitarian award is “unrestricted,” meaning that organizations neither have to follow set guidelines for putting the money to use nor are they required to disclose in their application how they will use the funds. That is because the nonprofits nominated for the prize are generally well-established and boast solid track records of achievement, Laughard explained. “This allows the (prize) recipient to do what they think is most valuable,” he added. “We’re confident they’ll invest it in a responsible way.” The icddc,b already has plans for the $2 million, however. The nonprofit informed the foundation that it will use the prize money to develop cost-effective vaccines and infection treatments and to conduct research on child malnutrition, Laughard noted. Though the foundation has no official ties with hotel chain Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., its mission follows closely the beliefs of founder Conrad Hilton, who established the foundation in 1944. The nonprofit-oriented entrepreneur would have appreciated icddr,b’s work, Laughard said. “The low cost and the logistics would have really appealed to the businessman in Conrad Hilton,” he said. Camp Helping Hands Simi Valley-based day camp Camp Helping Hands expanded its programming to the San Fernando Valley this summer for the first time, a move that Chief Executive Meredith Madnick described as a success. “This was the first summer that we ran two four-week camps side-by-side at two separate locations,” Madnick said. “It worked. What we wrote on paper actually played out really well in reality.” The four-week service learning camp hosted around 75 participants at its original Thousand Oaks location in addition to another 56 at its new base at Northridge’s Highland Hall Waldorf School from July 10 through Aug. 4. Founded by Madnick in 2011, Camp Helping Hands offers children ages 6 to 14 a hands-on experience in identifying and solving problems in local communities through field trips and on-site presentations from nonprofits. Tuition for the camp is $450 a week or $1,640 for the four-week package, including programs, snacks supplied by Good Life Organics in Granada Hills and a t-shirt. Camp Helping Hands programs are designed to forge connections from one week to the next. For instance, campers worked with Food Forward during the first week of camp to rescue unused fruit from orchards and parks, then helped sort and store the bounty at the Children’s Hunger Fund warehouse during the second week. More locations of Camp Helping Hands are in the works. While Madnick is looking forward to bringing the lessons to even more young minds, she is equally committed to cultivating an enjoyable experience. “It’s summer camp, so my philosophy is safety, fun and then learning,” Madnick said. Staff Reporter Helen Floersh can be reached at (818) 316-3121 or [email protected].
