(BLACK PR WIRE) (November 9, 2009) OAK BROOK, IL (November 9, 2009) – Seven-time NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning received the Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHCïƒ') Award of Excellence from chair of the Global Board of Trustees for RMHC Linda Dunham and president and CEO of RMHC Marty Coyne during the Charities' 25th Annual Awards of Excellence celebration on Saturday, November 7, 2009 in Rosemont, Ill. The gala honored four individuals that have gone to extraordinary lengths to improve the lives of children in need. Alonzo Mourning was awarded a $100,000 grant to donate to a charity of their choice. (From left to right: Linda Dunham, chair of the Global Board of Trustees for RMHC; Award of Excellence honoree and seven-time NBA All-Star Alonzo Mourning and president and CEO of RMHC Marty Coyne.)

Past RMHC Awards of Excellence Recipients
Past RMHC Awards of Excellence Recipients have included: entrepreneurs and philanthropists, Peter and Ginny Ueberroth (2008); actress, producer, social activist and national outreach director for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Marlo Thomas (2007); NCAA championship basketball coach and youth mentor John Wooden (2006); the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps with actor Paul Newman accepting on their behalf (2005); actor, director and humanitarian Danny Glover (2004); Dr. Benjamin Carson, renowned pediatric surgeon (2003); Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan (2002); tennis star Andrea Jaeger (2001); performer and humanitarian Harry Belafonte (2000); the late Joan Kroc, wife of McDonald's Corporation founder Ray A. Kroc (1999); former First Lady Betty Ford (1998); Retired U.S. Army General Colin Powell (1997); acclaimed theologian Henri J. M. Nouwen (1996); former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Antonia Novello (1995); former First Lady Barbara Bush (1994); the late Fred Rogers (1993); Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1992); former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (1991); and the late Jim Henson (1990), among others.

About RMHC
Ronald McDonald House Charities, a non-profit, 501 (c)(3) corporation, creates, finds and supports programs that directly improve the health and well being of children. Families and children being cared for at seventy-three percent of the most prestigious children’s hospitals in the world benefit from one or more of the RMHC core programs. Its programs are grassroots-driven to enable the Charity to offer help where children need it most - right in their own communities. RMHC makes an immediate, positive impact on children's lives through its global network of local Chapters in 52 countries and regions and its three core programs: the Ronald McDonald House, Ronald McDonald Family Room and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile. RMHC and its global network of local Chapters have awarded more than $460 million in grants and program services to children's programs around the world. These programs and grants provide a bridge to accessible health care and allow families more time together which helps in the healing process.