2009 Congressional Award Gold Medal Recognition Dinner

The Gold Medal Recognition Dinner is an annual event that celebrates our Gold Medalists and individuals from the public and private sectors that make a difference in the everyday lives of youth across the country.   With 191 youth receiving the Gold Medal at the Gold Medal Ceremonies earlier in the day, the atmosphere of the event was full of excitement and celebration. 

From Left: Chairman Paxton K. Baker presents 2009 Horizon Awardee Mr. Nick Cannon with the help of Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis and Congressional Award Vice Chairpersons Dr. Linda Mitchell and Ambassador Roger Noriega	From Left: Chairman Paxton K. Baker and Dr. Linda Mitchel present Mr. Jimmie Lee Solomon with the 2009 Horizon Award with the help of Gold Medalists Alec Kohli (AZ) and Patrick Chevalier (NJ) and Ambassador Roger Noriega

Joining the list of past Horizon Awardees, including Jimmy Smits, Grant Hill and Arnold Schwarzenegger (among others), Mr. Nick Cannon, actor, television personality, comedian and philanthropist, was presented with the 2009 Horizon Award in part due to his work through the Nick Cannon Youth Foundation.  The Youth Foundation hosts inspirational conventions for young men with the goal to inspire other young people to reach for their dreams and to maintain a positive lifestyle. Mr. Jimmie Lee Solomon, Vice President of Major League Baseball, was also presented with the Horizon Award for his dedication to the Compton, California based MLB Urban Youth Academy.  The League enables youth to spend time playing America’s pastime while establishing the virtues of integrity, respect, accountability, character, self discipline, personal responsibility and teamwork in its players. 

From Left: Chairman Paxton K. Baker presents the Hon. Chris Shays with the 2009 Leadership Award with the help of Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Dr. Linda Mitchell and Ambassador Roger Noriega	From Left: Chairman Paxton K. Baker, along with Congressman David Dreier, present Viacom President and CEO Philippe Dauman with the 2009 Corporate Committment Award along with Ambassador Roger Noriega

The Congressional Award was also thrilled to recognize the Honorable Chris Shays of Connecticut for his continued promotion of the importance of volunteer service in his personal life as a former Peace Corps Member and while in Congress as a proponent of the Congressional Award. 

Mr. Philippe Dauman accepted the 2009 Corporate Commitment Award on behalf of Viacom for the companies continued commitment to youth development through its philanthropic missions and its programming.  The Viacom Corporate Responsibility Council sponsors programs such as thinkMTV, which provides a platform for young people to engage in discussion and action for causes they care about. Get Schooled is another philanthropic program within Viacom, in partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is working to address the public education crisis by implementing new programs that will increase the graduation rate in public schools across the country.

From Left: Chairman Paxton K. Baker with Congressman Pete Sessions and Dr. Linda Mitchell, present Mr. Pete Geren of the U.S. Army with the 2009 Spirit of Service plaquealong with Ambassador Roger Noriega	From Left: Wyoming Congressional Award Council Director Janice Peterson celebrates the event with 2009 Gold Medalist Christina Nielsen and Advisor Dianne Kirkbride

Mr. Pete Geren, Secretary of the Army, was on hand to represent The United States Army as the Spirit of Service honoree for the one million active duty soldiers who dedicate themselves to another form of public service everyday.  This year, we were also honored to highlight 2009 Gold Medalist Christina Nielsen of Wyoming who is currently serving in Afghanistan. 

From Left: Ambassador Roger Noriega presents our advisor of the year, Ms. Jessie Blair with the Inspiration Award with the help of Chairman Paxton K. Baker and 2009 Gold Medalists Megan Partridge (NJ) and Sarah Williams (CA)	From Left: 2009 Gold Medalists Lynn Tse (CA), Kelly Chen (CA), Amanda Pekar (FL) and Cassandra Tuten (TX) celebrate their accomplishments at the dinner

Last but not least, we were honored to recognize Ms. Jessie Blair, a Congressional Award Advisor for almost 30 years from Ocean, New Jersey with the 2009 Inspiration Award for her outstanding service to youth in New Jersey and through Girl Scouts of the USA and her 30-year teaching career.  Ms. Blair has advised hundreds of youth that have dedicated over 20,000 hours of Voluntary Service in their communities. 

From Left: 2009 Gold Medalists Kyle Zhu (PA) and Pha Mong (PA) pose with their new medals	Mississippi's own Southern Sounds provided the entertainment at the beginning of the event with dancing, singing and even a Martial Arts demonstration

While we close out another successful Gold Medal program, we would like to thank all of our sponsors, especially AARP, AHIP, Assurant Health Foundation, BET, BlueCross BlueShield, Foundation Coal, Viacom and Walt Disney for helping to recognize America’s Youth.  We look forward to another exciting year of Gold Medal applicants and the 2010 Gold Medal Ceremony and Dinner.