Thursday, March 17, 2011
Special to suffredin.org

From left to right:  President Toni Preckwinkle, Trina Janes (Women’s Commissioner), Aline Lauture (Unsung Heroine), Peggy Montes (Women’s Commissioner Chair) and Commissioner Larry Suffredin.

Evanston resident Aline Lauture received the 2011 Unsung Heroine Award from the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues.  The award was presented by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

The Annual Unsung Heroine Awards were presented during the March 15 Cook County Board Meeting.  Lauture, representing Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin’s 13th District, was honored along with sixteen other women - one from each of the 17 county districts – during Women’s History Month.  The Unsung Heroine Award honors remarkable women who have not received wide-spread recognition as a way to bring their stories to light, to thank them, and to celebrate their achievements in Cook County. 

Aline Lauture is dedicated to helping the people of Haiti.  She has provided incredible support and assistance following natural disasters.  She founded an organization to provide proactive assistance, the Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti – www.haitiancongress.org. 

Lauture assisted Haitian refugees escaping political persecution in the 1990s.  She mobilized humanitarian relief efforts after Hurricane Jeanne struck in 2004.  Following the devastating January 2010 earthquake, she worked tirelessly to mobilize volunteers and provide humanitarian relief to Haiti. 

“Aline Lauture has dedicated herself to our community and to helping the people in Haiti.  She is truly an unsung heroine for the incredible humanitarian relief effort she helped to coordinate locally following the recent natural disasters in Haiti,” commented Commissioner Suffredin.

Commissioner Larry Suffredin represents the 13th County Board District, which includes areas of Evanston, Glencoe, Glenview, Kenilworth, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Northbrook, Skokie, Wilmette, Winnetka and Chicago’s 49th and 50th Wards.

For additional information please contact, MaryNic Foster, Executive Director of the Cook County Department of Human Rights, Ethics and Women’s Issues at 312/603-1100 or Trina Janes, 13th District Women’s Issues Commissioner at 312-645-9400 ex. 35.