Tustin-based Toshiba America Medical Systems Corp. donated and installed a refurbished $400,000 diagnostic system at Tenwek Hospital in Bomet, Kenya.
The maker and marketer of medical equipment is part of Toshiba America, a unit of Japan’s Toshiba Corp.
The CT scanning system helps physicians diagnose problems by providing images of patients’ bodies. It is the first CT system in the area.
Tenwek Hospital, also a training hospital, serves 2.5 million people. The CT scanner will also be used to train future neurosurgeons.
Prior to installation of the new system, patients traveled four hours each way to be scanned at a hospital in Nakuru, Kenya.
Toshiba donated the system through Assist International, a Scotts Valley-based nonprofit that matches corporate donors with the medical needs of emerging countries.
Toshiba also donated a spare X-ray tube.
Bank of America awarded two nonprofits in Orange County with 2011 grants of $200,000 each as part of its Neighborhood Excellence Initiative program.
The winners: Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana, which educates students in science, math and technology through interactive exhibits and programs; and Mercy House in Santa Ana, which provides emergency and transitional housing and other services for homeless people.
In all, Bank of America has given $150 million in grants since it founded the Neighborhood Excellence Initiative program in 2004, including $3.1 million to Orange County-based organizations.
Bank of America also gives $5,000 apiece to a Local Hero to donate to his or her charity of choice. This year’s Local Hero winners:
Rose Espinosa, founder of La Habra-based Rosie’s Garage Inc., an after-school tutoring program; Ticky Gorin, coordinator for Long Beach-based Special Olympics Southern California Inc.; Judge Jack K. Mandel, cofounder of Nicholas Academics Centers, an after-school tutoring and mentoring program in the Santa Ana Unified School District that Mandel founded with Henry Nicholas, cofounder of Broadcom Corp. in Irvine; Sally Sullivan, cofounder of Casa Teresa in Orange, a residential program that helps homeless pregnant women 18 and older with job training, counseling, prenatal care and other services; and Jonathan B. Webb, founder of Newport Beach-based Project Access Inc., which provides a variety of services to families and seniors living in low-income housing.
The Child Abuse Prevention Center in Orange honored Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Richard Vogl with a 2011 Champion of Children Award.
Vogl was recognized last month at a reception at Whittier Law School as a “legal leader” for his work assisting children caught up in the legal process as their parents separate and divorce.
Vogl has taught courses on family law at University of California, Irvine, and Chap-man University School of Law. He also has authored numerous articles on family law, and has served on the Orange County Superior Court for nearly 25 years.
“Commissioner Vogl has been an ardent supporter of not only the Child Abuse Pre-vention Center, but of all children and families living in Orange County,” said Scott Trotter, executive director at the Prevention Center.
Steve Carpenter, executive director of Santa Ana-based Rebuilding Together Orange County, a home repair and modification nonprofit, has been honored by O’Connor Mortuary with a Heart & Soul Award.
The award recognizes Orange County residents for inspirational achievements.
O’Connor Mortuary, a family-owned business with headquarters in Laguna Hills, will make an undisclosed donation to Rebuilding Together.
“Steve’s handiwork can be found in both the structures he has helped build and the countless residents who have benefited from them,” said Neil O’Connor, chief executive of O’Connor Mortuary.
Carpenter’s notable projects include refurbishing several Boys & Girls Clubs, re-building the Southwest Community Cen-ter in Santa Ana and renovating the Blind Children’s Learning Center. He also helped out on construction projects following Hurricane Katrina.
“Steve’s extensive contributions stem from a simple desire to use his natural talent to help others in any way possible,” O’Con-nor said.
Carpenter, a Mission Viejo resident, re-tired from a career in the automotive and entertainment industries.
O’Connor Mortuary, founded in 1898, began the Heart & Soul award program in 2010. It gives out an award once a month.
