News & Information
United Electric Supply Company Winner of the Wendy Fox Pedicone Award
WILMINGTON, DE (October 24, 2008) - United Electric Supply Company has been named the winner of the first-ever Wendi Fox Pedicone Award for our implementation of best practices in cancer awareness in the workplace. The award was presented to United Electric by James A. Wolfe, president and CEO of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and Presenting Sponsor, AstraZeneca.
The award is named for Wendi Fox Pedicone who helped put a face on cancer through her willingness to share the story about her breast cancer journey. It was presented at the Oct. 16 Advocates of Hope Summit by Presenting Sponsor AstraZeneca, which has its U.S. headquarters in Wilmington, Del.
“United Electric Supply is doing all the right things when it comes to cancer awareness in the workplace,” says Advocates of Hope Planning Committee Chair Alan Levin. “They have implemented policies and benefits to help employees maintain a healthy lifestyle and assist them when they are facing a crisis like cancer. They have put a corporate charitable focus on cancer. And above all, they are compassionate to those in the company who are facing the disease. When you consider that they are a mid-sized company with 154 employees in Delaware, United Electric's focus on cancer is even more impressive,” he continues.
“On behalf of the employee-owners of United Electric Supply Company, we are very honored to receive the Wendi Fox Pedicone Award,” says CEO Tom Cloud. “Far too many of our employees, families and friends have suffered from, and on occasion lost their battles to, cancer. I am proud that the entire United Electric organization actively supports and accommodates co-workers and caregivers in need, and that our employees participate in year-round fund-raising activities to support cancer research.”
United Electric Supply and Pedicone Award finalists Bank of America, Boulden Inc., Delaware Hospice and JPMorgan Chase were all recognized at the Advocates of Hope: Raising Cancer Awareness in the Business Community Statewide Summit on Oct. 16 at Clayton Hall in Newark.
About Wendi Fox Pedicone:
Wendi Fox Pedicone's book “Hanging Out with Lab Coats” took readers along on her breast cancer journey from diagnosis at a company-sponsored breast exam in 2004, through her surgery, recovery and return to work at AstraZeneca. Pedicone was actively involved in Advocates of Hope cancer awareness initiative, serving on the planning committee and talking about her experiences with her disease at the first Advocates of Hope Summit in 2006. Soon after, AstraZeneca created a new position for Pedicone as a spokesperson for patients. In this role, she educated and shared with people both inside and outside the walls of AstraZeneca what it was like to be a person with breast cancer. Wendi Fox Pedicone's valiant battle with breast cancer came to a close in February 2008.
About Advocates of Hope
Advocates of Hope was developed in 2006 by a coalition of health care, business, government and cancer resource organizations led by the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce. It is designed to deliver information about cancer, prevention and available resources to Delaware employers and their employees.