Not all superheroes wear capes.
On Tuesday, the Malta House of Care Foundation celebrated and recognized six women for their public service and philanthropy during the annual Celebrating Wonder Women event at The Bushnell in Hartford.
The women honored were Grace Bergin, Sherry Brown, Shari Cantor, Doe Hentschel, Iris M. Ramos and Mnikesa Whitaker, who could not attend due to illness (her mom, Elaine McLeod-Whitaker, attended on her behalf).
Whitaker, of New Haven, is the founder and director of BalletHaven, a dance training program for middle school girls. Before retiring in 2015, she was a tenured middle school English teacher in the Fair Haven neighborhood of New Haven for nearly 14 years.
“The impact that she can make and the impression that can be left,” said McLeod-Whitaker of what her daughter loves best about working with students. “She really wants girls of color to know that they can be anything, do anything.”
Bergin, of Farmington, a ninth grader at Miss Porter’s School, was inspired by the title character from the book “Alex and the Amazing Lemonade Stand,” about a girl with cancer who finds a way to impact the lives of children in her town. In 2009 she launched Grace’s Lemonade Stand to raise money to help children with blood disorders at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. According to Grace’s Lemonade Stand’s website, Bergin has raised more than $65,000.
Cantor, of West Hartford, volunteers to help others through many outlets, including Foodshare, the West Hartford Rotary Club, the American School for the Deaf, the Jewish Federation and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Currently she is the deputy mayor of West Hartford.
Hentschel, of Hartford, is a leader in the field of adult education developing creative and pioneering continuing education programs. Her leadership has included the creation of one of the first women’s programs in the country, two Centers for Learning in Retirement, and numerous innovative community leadership programs at Leadership Greater Hartford.
Ramos, of Hartford, dean of students at M.D. Fox School, has served as a member of the Parish Council and boards of the Archdiocese of Hartford’s Office for Catholic Social Justice Ministry, Saint Augustine’s School and as a commissioner of the New England Association of School and Colleges (NEASC).
Brown, of Hartford, has served on the board of Komen CT for the Cure, as a Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center corporator and a Bushnell overseer. She volunteers at Charter Oak Cultural Center, where children are given free music and art lessons.
“My interest is music. I learned music when I was little and it wouldn’t have been available to me if it wasn’t through the schools,” said Brown, who attended the event with daughter Barbara Hennessy. “One-thousand kids a year get free lessons including the instruments [from Charter Oak Cultural Center].”
“It’s nice she is being recognized for all the good work that she’s done,” said Hennessy.
Guests enjoyed wine and food pairings and auctions in Autorino Great Hall; a program followed in the Belding Theater. Rebecca Stewart emceed.
“I can’t believe it,” said Ramos of being honored. “I think I am most proud of my academic accomplishments.”
After dropping out of Hartford Public High School, Ramos received her GED and later an associate’s degree, then received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. She went on to earn three master’s degrees in three different specialties and a sixth-year certificate for school administrators from Central Connecticut State University.
“I love school,” she said. “Education for me is a passion.”
Bobbie Bartucca, executive director of the Malta House of Care Foundation, Inc., said Tuesday’s event is the largest fundraising event each year for the foundation. The Malta House of Care provides free primary health care to the uninsured. Its mobile-care vehicle has a fixed schedule in four Hartford neighborhoods.
“Tonight is as much about the women that we are honoring as the patients that we serve,” said Bartucca. “It’s really their night.”
