KINGSTON, R.I. – June 10, 2010 – Lindsey Sanford, a junior at St. Mary Academy Bay View and a resident of Swansea, was the recipient of the 2010 “Think Tick, Take Action” award presented by the University of Rhode Island’s Tick Encounter Resource Center.

The award, which recognizes Sanford’s “outstanding community involvement and philanthropy in advancing tick-bite protection and tick-borne disease prevention,” was presented during the Big Tick Gala on Friday, June 4, at the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center.

In 2009, Sanford organized a charity golf outing to benefit the Tick Encounter Resource Center that was hosted by her father Robert’s company, Cornerstone Design/Build Services.

“From researching the cause, to lining up sponsors, helping organize the event, and even hustling raffle tickets right down to the wire, Lindsey worked non-stop in order to raise significant money for our cause,” said URI Entomology Professor Thomas Mather during the awards ceremony. “The net result was that this high school junior helped raise $8,000 which she and her dad awarded to our program.”

According to Robert Sanford, several of Lindsey’s friends had contracted Lyme disease in recent years, and she was intent on helping keep others from suffering a similar fate. She also convinced the golf outing committee to make the Tick Encounter Resource Center the beneficiary of its 2010 outing as well, which will take place in August.

“We are honored that Lindsey and the Cornerstone Charity Golf Outing Committee believe in what Tick Encounter is trying to accomplish, and that they are supporting that effort so generously,” said Mather, who directs the Tick Encounter Resource Center.

Previous recipients of the award have included U.S. Senator Jack Reed, Providence Journal reporter Peter Lord, Apple Picker Foundation president Michael Warburg, and Beth’s Quest founder Rodney Bowley.

The Tick Encounter Resource Center is the public outreach arm of the URI Center for Vector-Borne Disease. Its website, www.tickencounter.org, provides a convenient way for visitors to properly identify ticks, view maps of tick abundance in Rhode Island, watch videos about how to remove ticks and apply repellent, and learn about the latest news and research about ticks and their diseases.

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Lindsey Sanford receives the annual Think Tick, Take Action award from URI Entomology Professor Thomas Mather and Channel 10 reporter Barbara Morse-Silva.