awards before we begin let me introduce the members of the commission and staff please rise as i as i call your name shannon garrett is not here tonight maggie rivera is past chairman petty and i don't see them ok committee members marfan younger who is probably on the other side of the globe right now and sue harder who runs the our street program for the city miller teen court coordinator ok and alberto serrano community human relations cordon coordinator for another two weeks before his retirement at the end of this month having served countless years the city's human relations commission was a stablished by ordinance in one nine hundred sixty six to ensure that all of holland citizens have equal opportunity and equal access to fully enjoy freedom unhindered by discrimination the commission established the social justice awards in one thousand nine hundred eight to recognize the efforts of the citizens and programs that provide exemplary community services in advance the cause of social justice and equal opportunity the social justice awards take place during the week of dr martin luther king jr's birthday the great man that we have come to identify with the pursuit of equality and social justice for all in our nation the social justice the word serve to remind us that the human relations commission is not alone in its efforts to ensure equality in our community but that there are many in our community who join hands with us to do this work the following recipients have been chosen to be honored for their commitment and service to equality and social justice the first the word will be given by david instrumental in the ongoing success of the heights of hope neighborhood organization and has been dedicated to this effort since she was an american volunteer in two thousand and five and now is that i supposed director tracy's leadership continues to inspire neighbors to develop projects to improve the neighborhood and allowed to become a safer and more enjoyable more attractive and just overall better for for everyone involved personally i actually live in the hollow heights neighborhood not  in the area that tracy does but not far away and i mean a bus rider in the winter so my route six takes me through her apartment complex every day that i'm going to work and i see the results that she's been  working on over the years certainly there's been a lot of ground improvements there's been a bus shelter put in place lots of painting and and just in general improvement i would say since the two thousand five happens to be actually  very close to the year i got to michigan so i've seen it all happen so let's call tracy up and give her  supportive of our efforts and holland heights and we really are thankful for your responsiveness and your willingness to listen and participate in some of the issues that we're facing up in the heights also they told me that this is being recorded and when you're in community development that means that it's not an individual effort and so it would be embarrassing for me to stand up here and think that i got this award on my own so there are some people that need to be recognized and i don't know if they're watching tonight not going to make them watch this later but that would be the heights of hopes that if these are the people that are on the ground every day working in the neighborhood and knocking on doors and really interacting with the people in our community and motivating them to be a part of the change then going to say their names on t and those people are responding davis who happens to be sitting here melissa mckeown ron alberts laura feld and becky lawrence those people work day in and day out and they deserve this award just as much as i do so on behalf of heights of hope thank you good evening and i just wanted to thank the mayor and the city council and staff are coming out and joining us it feels much much more relaxed and not so separate so thank you for that suggestion and doing that tonight the government community relations award is presented to reverend bill freeman bill was selected for his efforts to establish the interfaith congregation created an opportunity for all people of different face to come together and worship and learn from one another there is this variation the interfaith congregation has provided a saturday morning breakfast program for the for the less fortunate of our community he has also stamps the golden rule school for young people to instill compassion in their lives and share his strong beliefs for inclusion and equity for all in the community i would personally be remiss if i couldn't  mention that bill also was the advocate who brought the issue to council on the ordinances so we thank him for that as well i'd like to present bill freeman with his award  first of all i would like to thank the human relations commission for not holding it against me for being a convict that's nice i also want to thank the human relations commission for this award gorgeous i accept this award on behalf of my congregation which changed its name recently from interfaith congregation to all spirits we are grateful that the human relations commission recognizes that all spirits welcomes all spirits christians and jews buddhists and hindus muslims and more we don't try to convert anybody to any one particular faith we recognise that all spirits are one emanating from the spirit of love i also accept this award on behalf of my wife kathleen who is the one who started our education program for children at all spirits called golden rule school kids love golden rule school kids love miss kathleen i also accept this award on behalf of the dozens of people who receive a free breakfast at the community kitchen every saturday morning at western theological seminary  accept this award on behalf of the volunteers from all spirits like been and yahshua and greg and others and on behalf of other volunteers like phil unami an i others all of whom feed people on saturday mornings i especially accept this award on behalf of hollands lesbian gay bisexual and transgender  but i believe mines are being opened in the united states of america in the state of michigan and in the city of holland more states in the united states of america are recognizing same sex marriage rights in the state of michigan to be far behind more cities in the united states of america are accepting are recognizing that people who are lesbian gay bisexual and transgender should not be discriminated against in the city of holland be far behind the reverend dr martin luther king jr whose birthday was yesterday declared that the more of the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice i believe that one day the long arc of the moral universe will bend toward justice in the united states of america in the state of michigan and in the city of holland  sometimes we give these awards to people you had read about and they get in the news youth awards kind of exceptional can sometimes we don't know anything about these people in this is the first chance they have to be cited for their who attends a middle school in grand haven ethan was inspired to establish the charitable organization at age ten when he went on this father to mozambique to build and repair waltzer clean water what do you think returned to the united states each stablished charity ball to make it possible for children living in poverty in the usa and around the world who want to play soccer to be able to do so even believes that providing children with a soccer ball gives them a chance to play a game that they love and which return promotes healthy living and friendships and develops a constructive way to release school students and we can even imagine doing the things that he's already done and he's just thirteen so there's great things to come for exceptional effort towards the promotion of greater justice and equality in the united states and abroad  council nominates ethan king for the human relations commission two thousand and twelve youth social justice award thirteen year old ethan king is the founder of the organization charity ball which is based in holland charity both sends new soccer balls to children living in impoverished conditions in the u s and in third world countries who have no other means of getting them in two thousand and eleven ethan's organization delivered five hundred soccer balls to poor communities in haiti india zambia south africa and mozambique now is ethan's goal was to have sent over twenty five hundred soccer balls to kids throughout america and abroad by the end of the two thousand and twelve year even first came up with the idea for charity ball in two thousand and nine when he went with this father to rural northern mozambique to build and to repair clean water wells for villages there he saw that kids in the villages loved to play soccer but since they had no way to get a real soccer ball they tied up why did plastic garbage bags with twine these children had never seen a real soccer ball four and were overjoyed when ethan presented them with one of his own to keep when he thinking back to the united states he decided to start an organization to give kids in poor communities new soccer balls and in two thousand and ten charity ball was born ethan was only ten years old at the time now thirteen  time not only to playing soccer but to making it possible for all children who want to be who want to play to be able to do so the donation of soccer ball gives kids and proper poverty stricken towns and villages the chance to play a game they love promotes friendship and fair play reduces youth crime by giving kids a can constructive activity and contributes to a child's sense of worth to learn more about charity ball you can visit ethan website a charity ball the organ donor twenty five dollars for a soccer ball to be given a child in the u s or around the world ethan has promoted and come up with very expensive sponsors such as adidas and wilson so ethan has built this program but to help people and i to take a moment and thank some folks who have been a huge support coach steve smith that whole college years at the women's team coach often in the guise that you w say the ash family the camarade family the home and council for the school honor my family i love you guys and my brother j d he's an awesome dude he's always there to support me so it's encouraging court programs are when for first time nonviolent juvenile offenders who have the experience of an alternative to the typical conventional juvenile justice system it's also a great opportunity for the peers of the teen offenders to to be involved in this aspect of the juvenile justice system and also to see the lives of kids who are maybe quite different than their own as teens that go through a teen court program or youth court program is up to fifty percent of the wrist citizen rate of teens who go through the normal juvenile justice system so this is a real win win situation for the teens involved in the city of holland for the court system and for the the law enforcement community shanda miller meets on a monthly basis with the court advisory board which is comprised of the teens this and law enforcement and the court system and she also works in the high schools to train the students for their active role in the teen advisory board so if shana could come forward we'd like to present you with the award for education i am very pleased to accept this award on behalf of all the volunteers who are involved with team court several of whom have been working in the program longer than i have as was a mansion we've had when i first teen court programs in the united states but even so a large percentage of the people in this community have never heard of us they have no idea what we do so we're particularly grateful to the commission for recognizing this program and the value it brings to this community thank you very much this concludes our presentation we thank you presenters we thank you showed up to help with the honor of these we sippin for all who came for this presentation please join us in the hallway there for a reception of friends and family of recipients and those of you have come from important things the city council stay in here enjoy that i hope you enjoyed it may not be always enjoy