Humanitarian Hands Charities will honor philanthropist Roland G. Parrish at a gala on Saturday at the Eisemann Center in Richardson.
Parrish is funding the construction and furnishing of a medical clinic to care for 2,500 orphans and others in Fort Portal, Uganda, said Mary A. Christopher, co-founder and CEO of Humanitarian Hands Charities. The nonprofit group focuses on redressing poverty locally and in Africa.
Treatable ailments such as cuts, malaria, malnutrition and diarrhea kill 70,000 to 100,000 Ugandan children each year, Christopher said. Scheduled to open in January, the clinic is expected to serve 16,800 patients annually. Parrish has also pledged to build a school in Fort Portal, she said.
Nearly half of Uganda’s 2.5 million orphans lost their parents to HIV/AIDS, according to UNICEF.
Parrish owns 26 McDonald's franchises in North Texas and is chairman and CEO of the National Black McDonald's Operators Association. A graduate of Purdue University, he donated $2 million to refurbish one of the school's libraries, which was dedicated in 2012 as the Roland G. Parrish Library of Management and Economics.
Gala tickets are $75 and may be purchased at hhcharities.org.Hiett PrizeThe Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture will give the 2015 Hiett Prize in the Humanities to Iowa philosophy professor Scott Samuelson at a luncheon Nov. 10 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
The $50,000 award recognizes Samuelson's efforts to introduce a wide variety of people to the philosophic life, from his students at Kirkwood Community College to prisoners and professionals. A gifted writer, Samuelson contributes to national periodicals and last year published The Deepest Human Life: An Introduction to Philosophy for Everyone.
Dallas Institute executive director J. Larry Allums described Samuelson as a "rare talent" who exemplifies the goal of the Hiett Prize.
“His decision to teach at a community college, and volunteer to teach in a prison as well, has proven that the serious questions of philosophy can be grounded in the actual lives of real people,” Allums said. “It is the combination of this relevance to the everyday and his uncompromising commitment to the philosopher’s search for truth that makes Scott the ideal recipient of this year’s Hiett Prize.”
Dallas philanthropist and longtime Dallas Institute board member Kim Hiett Jordan established the annual Hiett prize in 2006 to honor individuals whose work in the humanities shows great promise. The winning applicant is chosen by an international panel of scholars from the Fellows of the Dallas Institute.
For tickets, which start at $175, and information, visit dallasinstitute.org.