May 23, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Tiffany McCallen

Wilmington, N.C. — In the last month, Wilmington Faith & Values (WilmingtonFAVS.com) Editor Amanda Greene has been honored twice for her work with the new website — first as a recipient of the 28^th Annual YWCA Lower Cape Fear Women of Achievement Awards and also as a finalist in the 2013 Religion Newswriters Association Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence.

Both awards commend her work with WilmingtonFAVS.com, a project Greene launched in April 2012. The site is one of five community faith news sites Religion News LLC launched in the last year, in partnership with Religion News Service, through the generosity of a grant from the Lilly Endowment.

YWCA Women of Achievement Awards

Sixty-seven nominees in nine categories — arts, business, communications, education, environmental, health & wellness, public service, volunteer and the Rachel Freeman Unsung Hero Award — comprised the field in this year’s YWCA Lower Cape Fear Women of Achievement Awards. Greene took home the prize for the communications category. The awards celebrate women from North Carolina’s Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover and Pender counties, who through their accomplishments and leadership, make an impact on the region.

The Lower Cape Fear YWCA and Wilma Magazine sponsor the annual awards, which have celebrated area women for the last 27 years.

RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence

Greene was also announced as a finalist for the 2013 RNA Awards for Religion Reporting Excellence in the radio/podcast category for her audio series “Love Stories,” which included stories of people affected by North Carolina’s Amendment One. The 2012 legislation defined marriage as between a man and a woman and passed by a 61 to 39 percent margin. Greene’s series aired on the NPR affiliate WHQR 93.1 FM and is posted on her site.

The RNA Awards have honored reporters and publications for more than half a century for excellence in faith coverage. More than $10,000 will be dispersed Sept. 28 when the winners are announced at RNA’s 64^th Annual Conference in Austin, Texas.

About Amanda Greene & Wilmington Faith & Values

Amanda Greene has worked as a newspaper journalist in North Carolina for the past 13 years — the last decade writing about faith in the Cape Fear region. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Greene has won journalism awards from the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors (now the Society for Features Journalism) and The New York Times. Her work has been published nationally in the Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Post, Sojourner’s, The Huffington Post, Christian Century, Religion News Service and The Salt Lake Tribune.

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