Melissa Penn honored at HFA Symposium

In April, at the Hemophilia Federation of America’s 30th Annual Symposium in Indianapolis, New York City’s own Melissa Penn was honored with the Charles Stanley Hamilton Legacy Award—one given for extraordinary lifetime service that encompasses national volunteerism and leadership.

Charles was a Louisiana native who suffered from severe Hemophilia A. He passed away much too soon in 1979 while a college student due to complications from surgery. Charles was remembered for his brilliance with a personal legacy that lived on for many years at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where his honors program project became known as the Cajun Quiz Bowl. High school teams from throughout Louisiana competed for the ultimate championship and finals held at the university where the winner was awarded the “Hamilton Cup” established in his memory. Charles was the son of the late Dr. Charles “Chuck” Hamilton, a pediatrician and physician surveyor for the Joint Commission JCAHO), and husband of Jan Hamilton, one of the founders of HFA and a long-term Executive Director. It was Charles’s hemophilia which led to his greatest legacy. His parents dedicated their lives and service to those with hemophilia and later those with co-infections. HFA would not have existed nor thrived in the early years without the support and sacrifice of Jan and Chuck Hamilton whose untiring work on behalf of the community were profound. Their service to the community encompassed medicine, advocacy and the justice system. With gratitude and thanksgiving, the Charles Stanley Hamilton lifetime service legacy award lives on.

In 2001, Melissa Penn was an isolated parent desperate for answers after her son was diagnosed with hemophilia. In 2006, she connected with a few other families who had bleeding disorders and hosted a Walk through Riverside Park. This one event sparked what has become the largest single fundraising campaign for the bleeding disorders community in the US—the Unite for Bleeding Disorders Walk—and helped create our chapter, too, shortly thereafter. Today, more than 40 chapters around the country host their own Walk to raise funds and awareness, and this all began with Melissa’s efforts in our backyards nearly twenty years ago.

Thank you for all you have done for our community, Melissa!

Melissa with her son, Zak, after receiving her award in Indianapolis.