News

Miller joins Clinton, 'the Greatest' for national award

Jeff Miller

By Bill Moss, Published: October 13, 2014

Jeff Miller has won state, regional and national recognition for his role in honoring World War II veterans.

Saturday will be the first time he has ever been on the same stage with honorees whose names are known instantly across America and even worldwide.
Miller, the Hendersonville native who cofounded the Honor Flight Network with Air Force veteran Earl Morse of Ohio, will join former President Bill Clinton, "the Greatest" — Muhammad Ali — football star Kurt Warner, actress Jane Seymour and former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, as 2014 Caring Award winners on Saturday in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Bob Dole and Tom Daschle, co-chairs of the Caring Institute, announced the 2014 Caring Award winners. The awards will go to 10 adults and six young people who have made extraordinary and lasting efforts that benefit society. They will be recognized at the Caring Awards Ceremony at the Omni Montelucia Resort and inducted into the Caring Hall of Fame.

"We are honored to celebrate these extraordinary people who have used their lives for the benefit of others," said former Sen. Dole.

"These persons honor us all by the quality of their lives, so it is highly appropriate that we honor them and hold them up as role models to be emulated by all," added former Sen. Daschle.

Of all the honorees, only Miller and Morse and philanthropist Don Tapia are not household names or figures well known in the entertainment and sports world.
Miller and Morse will be recognized for "Honoring Those Who Have Honored the Nation with their Service."
"Miller and Morse are co-founders of the Honor Flight Network which helps veterans of all ages travel to Washington in order to visit the World War II Memorial and other monuments dedicated to their service," the The Caring Institute said. "To date, Honor Flight has paid to bring more than 150,000 World War II veterans to Washington where they can meet old comrades, share memories of the past, and receive a well-deserved round of applause from the public and its leaders. By creating Honor Flight, Miller and Morse have shined a light on forgotten heroes who deserve our thanks and our respect."
Here are the other award winners and a summary of their service, from the Caring Institute:
International. President Bill Clinton, Restoring Caring as a Core American Value: Bill Clinton is known for feeling people's pain — and doing something to ease it. As president, he ranked with FDR and Lincoln as one of our country's most caring leaders. Since leaving office, he has continued on the same path of service through the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation and its programs, including the Clinton Global Initiative. He has brought health care to developing nations, provided their citizens with clean water, and helped them fight malaria, polio, and HIV/AIDS. He has been active in disaster relief and joined with Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush in raising funds for hurricane and tsunami victims. He has also been a catalyst for the work of the Starkey Hearing Foundation, along with the Thea and Gates Foundations. Through his global impact on millions, Clinton has come to stand for caring, the value that Mother Teresa defined as "love in action."

Adult Caring Award Winners

Lonnie and Muhammad Ali founded the Muhammad Ali Center to provide children and adults with the tools to contribute to their communities. They also set an example by devoting much of their time to philanthropic causes in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Their many efforts include hosting a yearly Celebrity Fight Night which generates funds for the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center at Barrow Neurological Institute. They are also leading the fight against Alzheimer's and striving to achieve mental health parity in health insurance plans.

Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, have overcome personal trauma to fight gun violence and support research on cancer. They launched Americans for Responsible Solutions to encourage elected officials to stand up for ways to prevent gun violence and ensure responsible gun ownership. Giffords has also inspired victims of traumatic injuries through her own sterling example. Together with Kelly, she has written a best-selling memoir Gabby: A Story of Courage, Love and Resilience and the soon-to-be-released Enough: Our Fight to Keep America Safe from Gun Violence.

Jane Seymour is an actress, artist, writer, designer — and world-renowned advocate for children. She has given her time and talents to a number of organizations: the American Red Cross; Camp Soaring Eagle, which serves children with special needs; and especially Childhelp, a revered Phoenix-based organization that helps prevent child abuse and care for its victims. In addition, Seymour created her own Open Hearts Foundation to support children and adults with programs that empower them and teach them how to turn adversity into opportunity. The extent of her contributions is so great that Queen Elizabeth honored her as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.

Don Tapia doesn't believe in turning a blind eye to those in need. He has long been a supporter of the Foundation for the Blind, helped the visually impaired to stay in school and assisted them in paying for guide dogs. As a board member of the Animal Welfare League, he does all he can to ensure that animals are well treated, and he has made equal efforts on behalf of higher education. He has shown his commitment by sponsoring college scholarships for disadvantaged youth and for the children of fallen policemen, firemen, and servicemen killed in action.

Kurt and Brenda Warner: Kurt Warner is famed as a star of pro football and one of the most caring athletes around. He and his wife Brenda believe in putting family and faith first, and their focus is doing good. So they have established the First Things First Foundation which helps children be everything they can be. They provide all expense paid trips for ill children to Disneyland, build recreation centers in children's hospitals, fight to ensure that children with special needs are included fully in society, and help mentor foster kids. If there were a Super Bowl of Caring, the Warners would likely be its champs

Young Adult Honorees

Nicholas Lowinger
Age 16, Rhode Island
Nicholas founded Gotta Have Sole to provide underprivileged children with shoes. His passion
for service has enabled him to provide new shoes for over 17,000 children in 35 states.

Taylor Leong
Age 15, Massachusetts
Taylor founded For the Love of Erika, an organization that collects toys and distributes them to
ill and disadvantaged kids. Her efforts have resulted in $200,000 worth of toys for more than
8,000 children at hospitals and homeless shelters.

Ashlee Smith
Age 15, Nevada
Ashlee distributes toys to victims of floods, fires, and natural disasters through her organization,
Ashlee's Toy Closet. She has collected and distributed over 175,000 toys that give comfort and joy to young people nationwide.

Cassandra Lin
Age 16, Rhode Island
Cassandra founded Turning Grease Into Fuel (TGIF), which salvages cooking oil and recycles
it into fuel to heat the homes of the needy. Her warmhearted efforts have produced 170,000
gallons of biodiesel and helped 290 families to heat their homes.

Katherine and Isabelle Adams
Ages 8 and 10, Texas
Katherine and Isabelle make and sell origami ornaments through their organization Paper for
Water and use the proceeds to build wells in India, Ethiopia, and other developing nations. Since 2011, they have raised more than $400,000 for 50 wells.