Camden County honored 11 of its residents on Jan. 21 with the MLK Freedom Medal for service to the community.
The honorees are Jeanette Alvarez of Camden, Giselle V. Brown of Cherry Hill, Capt. Vivian Coley of the Camden County Police Department, Army Col. Ted Gallagher of Cherry Hill, Father Vincent G. Guest of Camden, Rob Jakubowski of Audubon, Lion James of Gloucester Township, Jacquelyn B. Lee of Winslow Township, Dan Rhoton of Camden, Dr. Leslie M. Showell of Gloucester Township and Brian Truitt of Pennsauken.
At a dinner with several hundred people – including government officials and the families of honorees – videos of each of the winners were played that showed them talking about their community service. County commissioners presented the awards, and Commissioner Jonathan Young opened the event by quoting Martin Luther King Jr.
“Tonight we gather in spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to reflect and to celebrate,” he said. “To recommit ourselves to enduring work of justice, dignity and the opportunity for all. Dr. King taught us that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And he’s reminded us that the arc of the moral universe bends towards justice when we lift others up and work together with courage and compassion.”
Each of the winners has contributed in some way through businesses they run, work they’ve done in the community or initiatives they’ve started to get people involved in environmental issues. They include James, whose work with the Upstream Alliance involves bringing people of color into more welcoming situations. Or Truitt, who owns a restaurant called The Mylestone that has hosted fundraisers and helped feed the homeless.
Jim Peeler was separately honored for his community service with the U.S. Congressional Freedom Medal.
At a dinner with several hundred people – including government officials and the families of honorees – videos of each of the medal winners were played that showed them talking about their community service.
At 17, Brown is the youngest person to receive the Freedom Medal. She realized at 16 that her art was a way into community service.
“I’ve always liked art and I’ve always enjoyed creating art,” she noted. “But I’ve wanted to help. I think anyone who wants to help others or give back to the community needs to ask themselves what they’re good at and what they can do and just move forward and do it.
“I’ve just always wanted to help others and contribute back. I just didn’t know how until I was 16 and had the idea to do it.”
Brown’s work has been displayed in the U.S. Capitol and featured in the Lunar Codex Project, which sends time capsules to the moon that hold art work, writing, audio and video. Her mom Jolie nominated her for the award.
“One of the reasons I nominated her is because she always wants to help others,” Jolie explained, “even when she was a little girl, she always would reach out to the quiet person, the quiet little kid that was by themselves. She always wanted to be friendly with everybody …
“I wanted her to see the good she’s doing for others and just thought it was important for her to reach inside of herself.”
