HHH Supporters Honored with MLK Jr Humanitarian Awards
Kristi Glickman and Reid Flink Receive MLK Jr Humanitarian Awards for Their Work with Huskies Helping Huskies
The MLK Jr Humanitarian awards are given annually by Crabapple Middle School to recognize those who give unselfishly of their time and energy in an effort to make the community a better place. The purpose of this program is to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy of service, justice and equality, while also recognizing local individuals for the impact that they have in keeping Dr. King’s Dream alive.
This year, on March 15th, Huskies Helping Huskies director, Kristi Glickman, was presented with the 2022 community member award for her extensive work with HHH. Seventh grader Reid Flink received the student award for his generous donations to the program for his Bar Mitzvah Project.
Reid was aware of the work HHH was doing to fight poverty at his school, so when choosing a way to help other people for his mitzvah project, he knew exactly how he wanted to contribute. He wrote an email telling friends and family about his desire to fight poverty in the community and requested donations to support Huskies Helping Huskies. When all was said and done, he had raised $2,500 for HHH. He says he felt honored and excited to receive the MLK Jr. Humanitarian award.
Kristi first became aware of Huskies Helping Huskies when her older son was in 6th grade. For years, her family had helped out at their temple with the Family Promise, a program that uses churches and synagogues for homeless families to stay for a week at a time.
“I was serving dinner to the families and met a mom and her daughter and had a lovely conversation,” Kristi shares. “The next day I was at CMS and saw the same girl walking through the halls. I was shocked to think that Roswell, and specifically CMS, had a student that was homeless.”
Kristi inquired how she could help and soon found herself shadowing the HHH food drives and distributions board member. She remembers seeing that same mom and daughter at an HHH distribution later that year. The mom came up to the HHH director at the time, Dee Braswell, and was so excited to share the news that the family was paying first and last month's rent on an apartment that day.
“I had tears of joy,” says Kristi. “I thought, this is what makes our organization so special. We’re not only raising money to help our families out of hard times, but we’re building connections and developing trust and openness. It’s truly special.”
When asked how she feels about receiving the award, Kristi shared:
“This award means so much to me and HHH, as it demonstrates that the teachers and administration value the role of HHH at CMS. The staff here see first hand the need for help and educate our families of the HHH services, making our families feel comfortable coming forward. It takes a lot of courage for our families to ask for help and be vulnerable with us. I'm so proud to volunteer my time to serve in such a rewarding position.”