[NEWS] Middletons to receive the Philadelphia Award

Philanthropists John and Leigh Middleton are recipients of the 2013 Philadelphia Award, the venerable honor established in 1921 by Ladies' Home Journal editor Edward W. Bok.

The Middletons - whose family business, tobacco and cigar maker John Middleton Co., was sold in 2007 for $2.9 billion - have largely directed their philanthropy to education, homelessness, and workforce development projects.

Among the more notable beneficiaries of their largesse are the Philadelphia School District, Philadelphia Academies, the Philadelphia Youth Network, Teach for America, and Penn Medicine's Neuroscience of Behavior Initiative. A $16.2 million gift announced in 2012 is being used for several educational and work-training programs.