Child Health Recognition Awards | North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation

The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Child Health Recognition Awards honors local health departments, public health staff and individuals for innovative, collaborative programs that improve the lives of North Carolina’s children. The Foundation works with the
North Carolina Public Health Association(NCPHA) to coordinate the program, and all nominees and award recipients are recognized at a luncheon at NCPHA’s annual meeting. Recognition awards are presented in four categories: Lifetime Achievement, Individual, Public Health Staff and Local Health Departments. The awards include grants and scholarships that promote public health education or benefit child health programs. Up to three health departments and three individuals are honored annually.

Public health professionals know that providing care and services for families and children can be done in different ways. They bring solutions to today’s public health concerns: more babies born at healthy weights, reducing medical costs; and young children and teens getting preventive dental care, nutrition counseling, and mental health services. Sometimes, parents take their children to clinics for health services; other times, services come to them in the form of mobile dental clinics, health fairs or through school nurse programs. And the local health department "clinic" may not be inside at all, but in the open air at community gardens, to learn about nutrition and combat obesity with fresh vegetables and fruit.

While health care can be delivered in different ways, North Carolina's public health providers have these traits in common: passion, dedication and commitment to the children and families they serve. The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation salutes all public health professionals in our state who work harder every year to deliver more services in times of great need and tight budgets. We applaud their creativity and innovation and are honored to present the annual Child Health Recognition Awards.

2024 Child Health Recognition Award Recipients:

Those honored with awards are selected from nominations submitted by their colleagues. A selection committee of public health professionals reviews all nominations and select the award recipients. The 2024 awards include:

2024 Lifetime Achievement Recognition Award Recipient:

Karin Minter, MD, MPH

Dr. Minter has an unwavering commitment and passion to improving the health and well-being of children. This commitment extends beyond the walls of her practice as a pediatrician in Alamance County. She advocates and makes time for all children, especially those with underserved backgrounds. She established an annual child health fair to connect families with vital resources. She has served in chair and vice chair roles and continues as a member of the Alamance County Board of Health.

2024 Individual Achievement Award Recipient:

Peg O’Connell

Peg O'Connell’s expertise as a public health advocate was needed as chair of Care4Carolina. This coalition advocated for Medicaid Expansion and the efforts culminated in the signing of the NC Medicaid Expansion Bill into law. Since March 2023 over 500,000 in our state have been enrolled.

2024 Public Health Staff Recognition Award Recipient:

Persida Vallejo

Persida is a bilingual Community Health Worker helping patients navigate healthcare, oral health, insurance, and social service systems. Special attention has been given to Cabarrus County kindergarten students with untreated tooth decay as more students are showing up needing care.

2024 Local Health Department Achievement Award Recipient:

Cumberland County Department of Public Health - Baby Store

The Baby Store is a health department incentive-based, health promotion program to support moms and their babies. “Baby bucks” are earned by attending child and maternal health appointments and other healthcare educational classes or appointments. “Baby bucks” are redeemed to purchase a variety of items including diapers, baby wipes, clothing, car seats, sleep sacks and other needed items. In 2023, Cumberland County setup 897 appointments for visits to the Baby Store.

Forsyth County Department of Public Health – Growing Together

Forsyth County Department of Public Health has many programs helping lower the risk of chronic diseases and fighting the battle of food insecurity for all ages. Growing Together is a unique 20 lesson curriculum program focused on educating elementary students. These students participate in an after-school gardening program for third to fifth graders. Growing Together utilizes the innovative Learn, Grow, Eat, Go curriculum. Students in the program earn a certificate reminding them of their abilities to grow a garden.

Transylvania County Department of Public Health – TC STRONG

TC STRONG is a community-based collaborative supporting youth mental health initiatives in the county. TC STRONG is working to help youth feel confident and secure in their connections, purpose, and hope. The collaborative is creating a pathway working to improve the health and resilience of youth and teens in both the short and long term. Key strategies needed in the community to improve mental health includes community awareness, education, destigmatization, empowerment and connection for youth, and access to support and care.

Congratulations to our 2024 award recipients and all nominees.

2024 Child Health Recognition Award Highlights

The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation appreciates the diligence of the North Carolina Public Health Association(NCPHA) in overseeing the North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation Child Health Recognition Awards program. NCPHA coordinates many tasks associated with the program, including selecting healthcare professionals to serve as selection committee members. We are grateful to the committee members for their time and careful consideration of all nominations. The information presented was provided by the nominators and reflect their views. We appreciate their participation sharing the work of others that create innovative programs. Thank you to everyone involved.

Child Health Nomination Process NCPHA