Nov. 20, 2002 – Motivational speaker, author and television personality Les Brown will be the keynote speaker at the annual Partners for Health fund-raising gala on Saturday at Marriott Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort.
Partners for Health will honor Dr. Sidney Comissiong for his continued service and dedication to the people of the Virgin Islands. The organization will also honor four people battling cancer — June Archibald, Everton Audain, Roy Christian and Elliot "Mac" Davis.
The theme for this year's event is "Let the Dream begin: A Cancer Center in the U.S. Virgin Islands." Partners for Health, which over the years has donated more than $2 million worth of equipment to the St. Thomas hospital, is continuing to raise funds toward the planned cancer center.
"We are especially excited this year because for the first time Partners for Health will create a plaque listing all benefactors who have given $2,500 or more," the organization's president, Lorraine Baa-Elisha, said. The plaque eventually will be displayed at the hospital's cancer center, she said.
According to Brown's Web site biography, he was born in the poor Liberty City section of Miami. Mamie Brown, a single woman with little education and not much in the way of financial means, adopted him and his twin brother, Wes, when they were 6 weeks old.
As a child, Brown was labeled a slow learner. He has no formal education past high school, but persistence and determination have helped him to succeed. He rose from a hip-talking morning radio deejay to broadcast manager. He went from community activist to community leader, and from political commentator to three-term legislator.
He's now a renowned public speaker, author ("Up Thoughts for Down Times," "Live Your Dreams," "It's Not Over Until You Win!") and television personality who has attained national prominence by delivering a high-energy message that tells people how to shake off mediocrity and live up to their potential greatness.
For more about Brown, visit the Les Brown.com Web site.
The Partners for Health gala will begin with cocktails at 6 p.m. with dinner to follow at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $100. They're available in the Roy L. Schneider Hospital gift shop or by calling 776-8311, ext. 2281.
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