| |
|
NALC President William H. Young will present the National
Hero of the Year award to Rodger Parker at a special ceremony
September 17 in the nation's capital at the Washington Court
Hotel on Capitol Hill. Parker, 37, a resident of Cordova,
Tennessee, is a member of NALC Branch 27 in Memphis.
Parker, who has delivered mail for two years out of the
Germantown, Tennessee post office, was on his way home last
October when he saw a truck veer off the road into a large
lake and begin to sink, with water quickly filling the cab.
The Navy veteran sprung into action and jumped into the
lake along with two others. He first freed Betty Byington
and took her to shore, then returned to get her husband,
Robert, who was trapped in the driver's seat with water
up to his neck.
The union's annual National Humanitarian of the Year award
will be presented to Norbert P. Teklinsky of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, who has helped raise half a million dollars
for diabetes research over the past two decades, including
yearly fund-raising walks from Erie to Pittsburgh. Teklinsky,
54, is a member of NALC Branch 84 in Pittsburgh where he
delivers mail.
In announcing the awards, Young noted that letter carriers
regularly contribute much more to their communities than
the mail they deliver.
"While driving and
walking up and down the streets along their postal routes,
letter carriers keep a watchful eye on the neighborhoods
they serve," Young said. "They often abandon
their own safety to come to the aid of those in need and
the NALC proudly congratulates them on these heroic deeds."
Three regional heroes, a "Carrier
Alert" award recipient, and Branch Service Award winner
will also be honored at the September 17 event:
Eastern
Region ~Elizabeth Myers of Columbia, South
Carolina, a member of NALC Branch 233, was named
Eastern Region Hero for attempting to save the
life of an elderly man and his daughter on January
17 from a blazing house along her route in Columbia.
After forcing open a locked door, she dropped
to the floor and pulled the man out with the aid
of another rescuer. Unfortunately, the fire claimed
the lives of both the father and daughter.
|
Central Region
~ Lawrence V. Swain,
49, a member of Branch 932 in Alexandria, Louisiana
where he delivers mail, was named Central Region
Hero for saving the life of a driver in a fiery
van accident that he observed while on his route
on June 10, 2002. Swain, a resident of Boyce,
LA, opened a back hatch, climbed through the smoky
vehicle and freed the driver with the help of
others just moments before the vehicle was engulfed
in flame.
|
Western Region ~
Richard Reimer, 55,
of Sherman Oaks, California and member of NALC
Branch 2462, was named Western Region Hero for
his actions while on the way home from work in
March 2002, in capturing and holding a purse snatching
thief who assaulted a woman. He also testified
in court that led to the conviction of the thug
and an accomplice.
|
Special Carrier Alert
Rescue ~ Marilyn
M. Bonacorso, 41, of San Jose, California and
a member of NALC Santa Clara Branch 1427, was
named the recipient of the Special Carrier Alert
Rescue Award for her action in saving the life
of an elderly man along her postal route in Cupertino,
California. On a sweltering day in July, 2002,
Bonacorso noticed the man had not picked up his
mail, closed a garage door or turned off his stereo
since the day before. She contacted a neighbor
and they found the man on the floor, dehydrated
and dazed.
|
Branch Service Award
~ Clearwater,
Florida NALC Branch 2008 is the Branch Service
Award recipient for conducting numerous community
service projects, including a "Gong Show"
to raise money for an Alzheimer's family aid group,
putting forth a major effort in the annual NALC
Food Drive, conducting a golf tournament for the
Muscular Dystrophy Association, and collecting
Toys for Tots.
|
Award judges were Jordan Biscardo, AFL-CIO Community Services
liaison at United Way of America; Shelby Hallmark, Director,
U.S. Labor Department's Office of Workers' Compensation
Programs, and Montgomery County (MD) Deputy Fire Chief Phil
Guercio.
Editor's note: The awards will be presented
at a special ceremony at 11:30 a.m. EDT September 17 at
the Washington Court Hotel on Capitol Hill in Washington,
DC
|
