The Healing Hands Award
The Healing Hands Award is recognition of unique actions by individuals to promote the concept of healing, grace, of comfort and inspiration to those whom have been struck by anything from natural and man-made disaster to responding to the needs of a neighbor, friend or complete stranger or of motivating others to greater achievement. Such is the case of Richard Marcinko, our recipient for 2011. Marcinko, a highly decorated American war hero, was tasked with creating U.S. Navy SEAL Team Six and served as its commanding officer from 1980-83. It became the Navy’s premiere counter-terrorism unit which later took down Osama Bin Laden on Sunday, May 1, 2011.
So many times in this world there are those who quickly and readily point out a deficiency or a problem and then have mere “lip service” as a remedy or a response. We are all too familiar with those who want to be a “Monday Morning Quarterback” but the Healing Hands Award is all about being involved and a doer. The Healing Hands Award is about patching up the hurt and rising to the challenge.
Through their hands, hard work and dedication the recipient of the Healing Hands Award has made life better, and just as importantly, has set an example to follow for all to emulate. Such actions easily come to mind in the persons of the first people to receive the Healing Hands Award in 2002, President George W. Bush and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, without question, two leaders who comforted our country’s largest city and an entire nation during the still shocking attacks on New York City and Washington, DC on the morning of September 11, 2001. Other notable recipients of this esteemed Award have been Mobile Mayor Michael C. Dow in 2005, WW2 hero and Bataan Death March survivor Major Bert Bank in 2007 and Florida State University’s inspirational Coach Bobby Bowden in 2008, former long-time Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Seth Hammett, Senator Hinton Mitchem and Dr. Paul R. Hubbert in 2010.