Success & Service: Runners, cyclists to raise funds for cancer group

A new coalition of runners and cyclists has formed a team that will raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Team BE, named for leukemia survivor and Team in Training coach Bill Corey of Modesto and, posthumously, Elizete Postma of Riverbank, is part of the North San Joaquin County chapter of Team in Training. The North San Joaquin Valley area includes patients in Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Tuolumne and northern Merced counties.

Participants are training to complete America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride, the Rock ’n’ Roll Seattle Marathon or the Rock Tahoe Half Marathon, with a goal of raising $200,000 for research grants to be named for Corey and Postma.

The Modesto Bee wrote about Postma’s Hodgkin’s lymphoma remission back in November 2012. Ellie, as she was known, died in 2015 at 54from complications related to her cancer treatments more than 20 years ago.

To help Team BE reach its $200,000 goal, go to http://pages.teamintraining.org/sac/rnrseatl16/TeamBE.

For more information or to learn more about Team In Training and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, go to www.teamintraining.org/sac or call 209-522-1800.

County recognized for financial reporting

The Stanislaus County Auditor-Controller’s Office received the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada.

The award was given for the office’s comprehensive annual financial report and is the highest form of recognition for governmental accounting and financial reporting. A panel of judges determined the county demonstrated “a constructive spirit of disclosure to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.”

Legion’s public safety awards dinner Wednesday

The American Legion will host its annual public safety awards dinner Wednesday at American Legion Hall, 1001 S. Santa Cruz Ave., Modesto.

The honorees are: criminal investigator Richard J. Balentine of the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, investigator of the year; Deputy Stephanie Eldridge of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department, deputy of the year; Officer Travis Dalton of the Modesto Police Department, officer of the year; investigator Ed Sears of the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit, fire investigator of the year; Officer Matthew McCain of the California Highway Patrol, officer of the year; dispatcher Carrie Fink of Stanislaus Regional 911, dispatcher of the year; and fire engineer Tommy Dick of the Modesto Fire Department, firefighter of the year.

Denham honors 22 area students with Congressional Merit Awards

Twenty-two area high school seniors received Congressional Merit Awards at a recent ceremony. The awards, presented by 10th Congressional District Rep. Jeff Denham, R-Turlock, were given for academics, leadership, involvement in extracurricular activities, school citizenship, volunteerism and community service.

The winners are: Ervin Baccay of West High in Tracy, Raul Barraza of Argus High in Ceres, Gregory Cameron of Downey High, McKenna Doyle of Sierra High in Manteca, Shelley Fung of Davis High, Miguel Gonzalez of Harvest High in Ripon, Victor Hawkins of Gregori High, David Hunt of Central Catholic High, Medha Kothari of Kimball High in Tracy, Mahima Krishnamoorthi of Modesto High, Savannah Limon of Big Valley Christian High, Angelina Orozco of Turlock High, Alejandra Parada of Denair High, Tejal Patel of Modesto Christian High, Ashley Pierce of Johansen High, Ricardo Ramirez of Hughson High, Noah Roysdon of Valley Charter High in Modesto, McCalister Russell of Turlock Christian High, Cody Sharar of Enochs High, Jacob Sloan of Beyer High, Hailey Van Laar of Ripon Christian High and Elijah Vernon of Riverbank High.

This story was originally published April 9, 2016 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Success & Service: Runners, cyclists to raise funds for cancer group."