The Savannah office of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Georgia Chapter announced its Man & Woman of the Year on Friday night at its inaugural campaign’s Grand Finale Gala at The Morris Center. Eleven local Savannah community leaders — six men and five women — have been competing with each other for the last 10 weeks to raise the most money for LLS.
In its inaugural year, the event raised $202,180, more than doubling the original goal of $100,000. Talmadge (Tal) R. Johnson, CPA with Dabbs, Hickman, Hill and Cannon LLP, raised $24,205 and was named the 2013 Man of the Year. Emily Dickinson, Marketing and Human Resources director for Wet Willie’s Management Corp., raised $71,674 and was named the 2013 Woman of the Year.
“We were pleased to recruit such an outstanding inaugural class of candidates for this campaign. While only two people are awarded the titles Man & Woman of the Year, we are extremely proud of all of our candidates. Due to their tremendous fundraising efforts we have raised critical funds to find a cure for blood cancers. We couldn’t be happier with their results,” said Jean Doliber, manager of the Savannah Man & Woman of the Year Campaign.
This year, Tal Johnson also won the Coastal Home Care Mission Integration Award; the award to the candidate that demonstrated exceptional mission integration into their campaign. Jamie Marie Smith was awarded the Community Involvement Award; the award to the candidate that facilitated exposure in the community and built a strong program and team.
Every dollar the candidates raised counted as one “vote” and the candidates with the most votes were awarded the title Man & Woman of the Year. Woman of the Year Emily Dickinson and Man of the Year Tal Johnson will now be entered into the national competition for Man & Woman of the Year, which will be named in July. All the candidates competed in honor of LLS’s Boy & Girl of the Year, Cora and Sam, local children who are blood cancer survivors and sources of inspiration to others.
The 2013 Man of the Year nominees were: Jason Anderson of Merrill Lynch Wealth Management; Rob Bowden of Bernard, Williams & Co.; Tom Carter of Blackstone International; Tal Johnson of Dabbs, Hickman Hill & Cannon; John Manly of Bouhan Falligant LLP and Jeff O’Connor of First Citizens Bank.
The 2013 Woman of the Year nominees were: Hailey Blakley of The Jones Company/Flash Foods; Emily Dickinson of Wet Willie’s Management Corp.; Patricia Harris of Cambria Suites — Hp Hotels; Anne Shealy of J. & L. Glass Inc. and Jamie Marie Smith of Coastal Home Care, Inc.
“The Man & Woman of the Year campaign is a great opportunity for participants to network with other candidates while raising money for an important cause,” said Doliber. “We applaud the tireless efforts of our incredible candidates and thank each of them for making such a significant difference in the lives of so many people.”
The 2013 Man & Woman of the Year campaign is generously supported by Savannah Magazine, Daly & Salter Photography, Savannah Candy Kitchen, Oracle, First Citizens Bank and Dabbs, Hickman, Hill and Cannon. To learn more about the campaign, go to www.mwoy.org/ga.
ABOUT THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ® (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world and provides free information and support services. The Georgia Chapter serves patients with a variety of programs including the Patti Robinson Kaufmaunn First Connection Program, the Trish Greene Back to School program for children with cancer and Financial Assistance programs, which last year provided more than $1.59 million to patients statewide. Currently, the Georgia Chapter funds $2.75 million toward research grants in multi-year agreements with Emory Winship Cancer Institute and Georgia Regents University. There were approximately 3,650 new diagnoses for blood cancer in Georgia in 2011.