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SPIRIT Award Honors Disabled Workers and Their Employers

October 25th, 2007 Posted by Amelia

The Sixth Annual New Freedom Initiative Awards recognizing exceptional commitment to helping Americans with disabilities were awarded by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao on October 24, 2007. The awards ceremony took place at the JW Marriott Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

This year’s SPIRIT Award goes to Marc A. Buoniconti, ambassador for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, or MPCP. The SPIRIT award is given each year to the individual who best personifies:

Strength
Perseverance
Integrity
Role Modeling
Independence
Trailblazing

Football runs in the Buoniconti family. Marc’s father is the legendary Miami Dolphin’s All-Pro and Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti.

Marc Buoniconti won a competitive football scholarship to The Citadel, the exclusive military school in South Carolina. In 1985, while making a tackle, Buoniconti suffered a spinal cord injury. Since his injury, Marc has dedicated his life to raising money and awareness for spinal cord injury research. With his family, Marc founded The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, now the world’s most comprehensive spinal cord research center.

The MPCP is a school of the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami in Florida. The MCPC has assembled a wide range of researchers, clinicians and therapists who are experts in treatment directly related to spinal cord injuries. The MPCP’s goal is to find more effective treatments and eventually a cure for paralysis.

The SPIRIT award was first awarded in 2006. The first SPIRIT award winner was Dave Drebecky, the legendary baseball player. Once a Hall of Fame left-handed pitcher, Drabecky developed cancer in his pitching arm. After treatment including surgery and freezing the bone of his arm, Drabecky make an astonishing return to the playing field, pitching in two games in during his comeback. In the second game, after three perfect innings, fans watched in horror as Drabecky’s arm shattered on the mound after a pitch. Drabecky eventually had his left arm and shoulder amputated to remove the cancer, but made a comeback as a bestselling author and motivational speaker.

John D. Kemp, Esq., an attorney with the firm of Powers, Pyles, Sutter &Verville P.C. was honored as an individual employer.

Three businesses were honored with the New Freedom Initiative Awards. They are Dow Chemical, Gap, Inc. and Northrop Grumman. These awards recognize individuals and organizations that enhance the employment opportunities of disabled people.

Dow Chemical, based in Midland, Michigan, is “a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets” according to the company website. Dow is best known as a supplier of chemicals to individuals and industry, including cleaners, fertilizers and industrial chemicals.

The Gap, Inc. is based in San Francisco, California. The company owns a variety of clothing retailers aimed at younger people, including The Gap, Old Navy, Piper Lime and Banana Republic. The company operates more than 3,100 stores with annual revenue of $15.9 billion. According to founder Don Fischer, the company’s purpose is, “To make it easier to find a pair of jeans.”

Northrop Grumman Corp. is a Los Angeles-based designer, systems integrator and manufacturer of military aircraft, defense electronics, precision weapons, commercial and military aeronautical structures.

In addition, three organizations that benefit disabled workers were honored at the New Freedom Initiative Awards. These include the Laurie Mitchell Employment Center in Alexandria, Virginia and Positive Vibe Café in Richmond, Virginia.

The Positive Café of Richmond boasts healthy, homemade meals in a relaxed atmosphere near the James River. The Café’s training program specializes in helping people with disabilities.

“When people ask me how to find the restaurant, I tell them to look for the place with the golden aurora around it, because that’s just how positive this place is,” says Chip Young, a graduate and current employee at The Positive Vibe.