The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) announced that Belmont University alumna Stacy Schumaker Maciuk (’05) received its prestigious Lewis Hine Award on Jan. 29 in New York City. Schumaker Maciuk, an advocate for foster care children, was honored for her work with local and state agencies to bring awareness to the special needs and challenges of foster care children. Maciuk became a foster care child at 2 and spent 17 years in the system, attending 10 different elementary and secondary schools before graduating and attending Belmont, where she graduated with a degree in social work and gave the commencement address at her graduation.
While at Belmont, Schumaker Maciuk led a task force to develop a system for recruiting, identifying and meeting the needs of foster care students. With Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher and a committee, Belmont began providing housing for foster care youth duirng school breaks and raised scholarship money from outside donors for foster care youth. In 2003, as part of the Tennessee Youth Advisory Council, Schumaker Maciuk organized a suitcase collection drive to provide foster care children with a place to pack their clothes and possessions other than garbage bags. In both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly, she fought for college tuition waivers for foster care youth who have aged out of the foster care system. Schumaker Maciuk completed graduate school and now works in the Offices of Former Vice President Al Gore and Mrs. Tipper Gore.
Schumaker Maciuk is one of 10 recipients of the Lewis Hine award selected from hundreds of submissions across the nation. She received $1,000 and a trip to the awards ceremony in New York City.
The NCLC is a private, nonprofit organization founded in 1904 and incorporated by an Act of Congress in 1907. Its mission is to promote the rights, dignity, well-being and education of children and youth as they relate to work and the workplace. In its 10th decade, the NCLC continues the work of its founding visionaries as a leading force in ensuring child labor law compliance, transforming the workplace into a learning environment, improving youth occupational safety and health, educating children and increasing public awareness of the rights of children.
