1996 Rudy Awards Announced By SAFECO.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 1996--Four people representing three non-profit organizations in the Greater Seattle area have been named 1996 Rudys by SAFECO Corp.

The Rudy Awards, named for Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, honor non-profit leaders who are "beacons of light in the community" and who have demonstrated their ability to "cut through the fog and get the job done." Each award is accompanied by a $30,000 grant from SAFECO to the Rudys' agencies or programs.

The 1996 Rudys are:

Candy Johns and Chief John Turner of Mountlake Terrace for their involvement with The Neutral Zone. The Neutral Zone is a late-night and after-school program for at-risk youth. It attracts 150-250 youth on any given Friday and Saturday night and is credited with the substantial drop in juvenile crime in Mountlake Terrace. Their program has also served as a model for other late-night recreation programs around the country.

Al Poole, the executive director of the Operational Emergency Center in South Seattle. The OEC is the second largest food bank in King County, serving more than 114,000 people in 1996. A former volunteer with OEC, Poole recognized that people who need assistance with basics like food and shelter, often need other services in order to improve their situations long-term. Despite limited resources, he expanded the OEC services to include crisis intervention, youth employment, job placement and referral and youth-at-risk counseling to better serve people in our community who need help.

Darcy L.D. Hupf, founder and director of Northwest's Child. Northwest's Child is the only program in the Seattle area that provides extended care for people who are chronologically too old for day care, but too impaired to be left by themselves. Before Northwest's Child, lower income families in Seattle often had to chose between foster care or welfare in order to meet the caretaking needs of their disabled children.

Rudys are nominated by SAFECO employees and the awards and grants are surprises to the recipients.

"Creating and sustaining a non-profit agency is a challenging task in the best of times," said Gordon Hamilton, vice president of SAFECO Public Relations. "Dealing with limited resources, uncertain funding and people with special needs on a daily basis requires very special people. With the Rudys, we're acknowledging the enormous contribution these people make to our community, and providing some unexpected financial support."

Since SAFECO created the award in 1994, 15 individuals have been named Rudys with 13 organizations receiving $390,000 in surprise grants. Past recipients and organizations include:

-- Barbara George, Little Red School House (1994)

-- Gwen Beighle, Multifaith Aids Project (1994)

-- Lonnie Franklin and John Perkins, Central Youth and Family

Services (1994)

-- John Little, Seattle 4-H (1994)

-- Belinda Lafferty, Youth Eastside Services (1994)

-- David Kelly-Hedrick, Youth Volunteer Corps of King County

(1994)

-- Janet Trinkaus, Rise `n Shine (1995)

-- Francia Russell, DanceChance/Pacific Northwest Ballet (1995)

-- Melvin Minnis, Accounting Career Awareness Program for

Minority -- Youth (1995)

-- Sister Kathleen Ross, Heritage College (1995)

CONTACT: SAFECO Corp., Seattle

Lori Gleichman, 206/545-5707 (wk) or 206/486-1571 (hm)