2016 Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence Presented to Cluster Tutoring
Corboy & Demetrio Assistant Administrator and Lend-A-Hand Board Member Rita Planera presented Cluster Tutoring with the 2016 Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence at the Lawyers Lend-A-Hand’s Annual Spring Awards Dinner on May 4, 2016. Cluster Tutoring Executive Director Kara Kalnitz accepted the $5,000 award.
Rita Planera and Kara Kalnitz
The award, named in honor of Thomas Demetrio, President and Co-founder of Corboy & Demetrio, is given annually to tutoring and mentoring programs that impact the lives of underprivileged youth.
Background on Thomas Demetrio and Lawyers Lend-A-Hand:
In 1992, the Lend-A-Hand Award of Excellence was created by Thomas A. Demetrio while he was President of the Chicago Bar Association(CBA), with a desire to impact the lives of Chicago’s underprivileged children by recognizing the efforts of exceptional tutor/mentor programs in the Chicago communities. From this Award was born the Lend-A-Hand Program. The Chicago Bar Foundation(CBF), with the leadership of the CBA, initiated the Lend-A-Hand Program in 1995, and it has continued to evolve ever since.
The CBA and CBF created the Lend-A-Hand program in dedication to the lasting memory and generosity of the Honorable Abraham Lincoln Marovitz, Judge "Abe."
Thomas Demetrio is a Life Fellow of the Chicago Bar Foundation and served on its Board of Directors from 1994 to 1996. He has served on the Lend-A-Hand Advisory Board since 1994.
