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CSUN President to Be Honored For Her Contributions to San Fernando Valley Life

(NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Jan. 28, 2008) — Because she makes a difference in the San Fernando Valley, President Jolene Koester will be honored Thursday, Feb. 14, at the Encino-Tarzana Hospital Charitable Foundation’s annual "Tree of Life" gala.

"She’s always been a community person, and of course, she promotes education," said Sandy Goldman, president of the foundation. The award will spotlight Koester’s high visibility in the Valley, her community outreach and her philosophy that college is possible even for those who may have considered a degree out of reach.

The event will be held at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. Last year’s inaugural gala, which attracted 400 guests, honored Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for his initiatives to improve public education.

The "Tree of Life," symbolic of the birth to death cycle of life at hospitals, is the foundation’s motif, according to Goldman. There are leafy artistic representations, she pointed out, at both campuses of the Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center.

"[The] primary goal of the foundation is raising money for nursing scholarships," Goldman said. "We have given many scholarships to students at CSUN who want to go into nursing."

The annual gala also raises funds for three nonprofits. Among them this year is the CSUN-affiliated Valley Trauma Center, which operates sexual assault hotlines 24-hours-a-day including holidays. More than 60 percent of the calls concern children, and although the center does not receive funding to pay for counseling for young sexual abuse victims, no child is turned away.

The Valley Trauma Center also provides a range of services including individual and group counseling for children, adolescents, adults, couples, mothers and daughters; parent education; child abuse prevention; intervention and treatment services; family preservation and adoption promotion for foster children with support for their new parents as well as presentations that discourage domestic violence, date rape and bullying.

A chartered agency of the Michael D. Eisner College of Education under the auspices of the Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, the Valley Trauma Center also trains students and volunteers.

For more information about the "Tree of Life" gala, call gala chair Stephanie Carter at (818) 990-0105.