Balogh, Carlton are honored as ‘Local Heroes’
Bank of America-sponsored event allows each of them to give $5,000 to their favorite charity
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Lajos Balogh, left, and Amy Carlton got the hero treatment from Bank of America’s Roger Hinshaw on Nov. 19 at Marylhurst University. They were named as Bank of America Local Heroes as part of the 2009 Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.
Lajos Balogh and Amy Carlton come from different ends of the age spectrum.
Balogh has been making music at Marylhurst University for more than four decades. Carlton began her career as a philanthropist at an extremely young age.
But both have been recognized as “Local Heroes” for 2009, which is sponsored by the Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative.
As good heroes, they received rewards at a ceremony at Marylhurst University last Thursday.
Both Balogh and Carlton were given $5,000, which they will give to the nonprofit organization of their choice.
Balogh was nominated for the honor by Judi Johansen, president of Marylhurst University, who called him “a true hero of the arts in our community.”
An immigrant from Hungary, Balogh joined the music faculty of Marylhurst University in 1966 and began conducting the Marylhurst Symphony.
But conducting one symphony orchestra was not enough for Balogh. He founded the Metropolitan Youth Symphony in 1974, building a musical enterprise that now features 500 musicians in 11 different orchestras, bands and ensembles.
In 1981 Balogh celebrated his U.S. citizenship by founding the Portland Festival Symphony, which offers free classical music concerts by Portland’s finest musicians every summer.
“He is a tireless advocate for music in our community,” Johansen said, “raising funds to support orchestras, promoting concerts, giving musicians outlets to share their talents with citizens who have embraced his love of music as their own.”
An outstanding all-around student at Lake Oswego High School, Carlton started Teens Fighting Hunger while a 14-year-old freshman.
She originally was motivated by the stunning statistic that 13 million children in the U.S. go hungry, and her nonprofit organization has been a force fighting hunger ever since.
As of October 2009, Teens Fighting Hunger has raised $39,000 to organizations feeding hungry children throughout America, including the Oregon Food Bank.
Although she is on track to graduate from Lake Oswego High School in 2010, Carlton is already making additional plans for her Teens Fighting Hunger organization to expand its original mission.