Honoring and congratulating Shelly Yanoff on the occasion of her retirement from Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY), after twenty-five years of service as the Executive Director and for her advocacy on behalf of children and their families.

WHEREAS, Ms. Yanoff has devoted more than four decades of her life to increasing funding and improving programming in child health, child welfare, public education, child care, youth development, family well-being, juvenile justice and lead poisoning prevention; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Yanoff is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Villanova University School of Law and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Arcadia University; and

WHEREAS, Some of Ms. Yanoff's major accomplishments include: crafting the strategy to save the “Get Set” day care program for 5,000 youngsters in Philadelphia during the mid 1960s; leading a group of 2,000 Philadelphians to Harrisburg, PA to insist on more state support for neglected children; organizing more than 10,000 Southeastern Pennsylvania residents to go to Washington to urge the government to invest more in children; lobbying state lawmakers for the creation of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP); as well as establishing free vision and dental exams for thousands of City kids; and

WHEREAS, She has served as Chair of the Governor's Commission on Children and Families since 2005; is a member of the Philadelphia Commission on Children and the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board and a board member of the Free Library of Philadelphia and the Public Interest Law Center; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Yanoff has received many awards including the Gimbel Philadelphia Award, the Edward S. Espen Humanitarian Award, the John B. Patterson Award for Excellence in Public Education, The Take the Lead Award, The Fleurette Angel National Child Advocate Award and the Red Cross Clara Barton Humanitarian Award; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Yanoff, known for advocating

with

parents and children, treats all kids as her own and works under the ideal that democracy is not a spectator sport; now therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor and congratulate Ms. Shelly Yanoff on the occasion of her retirement from PCCY, after twenty-five years of service as the Executive Director and for her advocacy on behalf of children and their families.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Ms. Shelly Yanoff, as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

End