NEW YORK -- John A. Catsimatidis, chairman and CEO of petroleum/convenience store company Red Apple Group Inc., will be honored with the Appeal of Conscience Award at the 2006 Appeal of Conscience Foundation Annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday, September 19 in New York City, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, president of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, said.
Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church Archbishop Demetrios will bless the occasion.
The award is being presented to John Catsimatidis for translating his successful business career into [image-nocss] compassionate leadership in support of education and healthcare and for his active involvement in philanthropic and civic causes, said Rabbi Schneier.
As Chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group, a company with holdings in supermarkets, real estate, aviation, retail petroleum products, media and convenience stores, this native of Nissiros, Greece, who came to the United States as an infant, is truly the epitome of the American dream. He is one of the largest employers in the New York-metropolitan area, with a workforce of more than 10,000, he added.
Anchored in his Greek heritage, he is executive president of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and he created the Hellenic Scholarship Foundation. He has served on the Board of Directors of the New York Presbyterian Hospital, the United Way of Greater New York, the Juvenile Diabetes' Foundation, the Alzheimer's Research Foundation, the Parkinson's Research Foundation and the New York Police Athletic League. He and his wife Margo's vast philanthropic activities have benefited the New York community at large, he said.
Red Apple subsidiary United Refining, which processes 65,000 barrels of oil a day, distributes fuel to its 372 Country Fair/Red Apple gas stations/c-stores in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Red Apple also controls Gristede's Foods, a leading New York City supermarket chain. It also has real estate, aircraft leasing and newspaper operations.
Past recipients of the Appeal of Conscience Award include Jorma Ollila, chairman and CEO of Nokia Corp.; Sir John Bond, group chairman of HSBC Holdings PLC; Dr. Josef Ackermann, Deutsche Bank; Dr. Daniel Vasella, chairman and CEO of Novartis AG; Carly Fiorina, chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.; and Dr. Heinrich V. Pierer, president and CEO of Siemens AG.
The Appeal of Conscience 2006 Awards Dinner is an international gathering that brings together leaders of business, public and religious life, members of the diplomatic corps and prominent religious leaders of the Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox communities.
President Bush serves as the honorary chair, and honorary co-chairs include former presidents Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Gerald R. Ford; Former Secretaries of State Madeleine K. Albright, James A. Baker, III, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Alexander M. Haig, Jr, Henry A. Kissinger, George P. Shultz; Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, ACF Trustee and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington, ACF Trustee.
Since 1965, The Appeal of Conscience Foundation, an interfaith coalition of business and religious leaders, has been actively involved in furthering religious freedom, human rights and tolerance in Russia, China, the Balkans, Central Europe, Argentina and Cuba. The Foundation has been active worldwide, energizing religious leaders of the major faith communities for inter-religious dialogue, peace and coexistence. In early November, the ACF brought together, with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and in cooperation with the Turkish Government, more than 100 religious leaders of Kosovo, the Balkans and South East Europe for the Peace and Tolerance II Conference in Istanbul and supported the Moscow World Summit of Religious Leaders convened by Patriarch Aleksy II in July 2006.
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