People are always talking about Sean Penn‘s humanitarian relief efforts in Haiti, but on Thursday he was finally honored for it.
The actor received the 2012 Peace Summit Award for his work in the foreign country, which includes managing the J/P Haitian Relief Organization AND being the first non-Haitian to be designated an ambassador-at-large for Haitian President Michel Martelly.
While accepting the award in the presence of the Dalai Lama on a Chicago stage, Penn urged for more foreign aid by saying:
“It would take a poet laureate to describe for you the courage and the dignity of (Haiti’s) people. There are no people on earth more willing to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. But as Dr. Martin Luther King said, it’s fine to tell a man to pull himself up by his own bootstraps, but evil to tell a man to do so without boots.”
VERY well said if we do say so ourselves!
According to United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Udo Janz, the passionate entertainer should “think of it as the Oscar for your humanitarian commitment.”
Absolutely! What an honor!
Congrats on the award, but more importantly, THANK YOU for all your selfless service!
[Image via WENN.]
