Philanthropy/Heroism

The Carnegie Hero Fund

What it is and how you may qualify to win this covetous award.

The Carnegie Hero Fund was established to recognize acts of heroism voluntarily performed by civilians in the US and Canada by saving or attempting to save the life of another; and to grant monetary assistance, including scholarship aid, to awardees and to the dependents of those who have lost their lives, or who have been disabled in such heroic acts.

If you watched @60 Minutes last Sunday you saw a segment done about this organization and its Hero Award which I knew nothing about. I found this segment very interesting and couldn’t help but wonder how many other people have never heard of this.

Background:

This Hero Fund is a private operating foundation and was first established in Pittsburgh, PA in 1904' by a trust fund of $5M by Andrew Carnegie who was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist.

The fund was inspired by two men, Selwyn Taylor and Daniel Lyle, who lost their lives following the Harwick Mine disaster in Harwick, PA on January 25th, 1904.’ This disaster claimed 181 lives, including Taylor and Lyle who died while making rescue attempts. Carnegie was greatly touched by their sacrifice and so he had gold medals minted for their families within the next couple of months he wrote the Hero’s Fund’s governing ‘Deed of Trust,’ which was adopted by the newly formed commission on 4/15/04.’

Since then the organization’s Hero Fund has awarded close to 10K medals along with tens of millions of dollars in grants, scholarships, and general assistance. There are currently several hero funds throughout Europe and the UK.

How it works

The organization selects about 80 people a year to receive this award from approximately over a thousand entries they receive each year. — Per Eric Zahren, President of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, who went on to say…

They select the heroes by reviewing the news, police, and other rescuers' reports; viewing all the news coverage, and reviewing eyewitness accounts from the event. Once a nominee is selected they proceed to not only recognize them by awarding them with a coveted coin, they pay their medical costs, if any were incurred, including mental help and counseling. Many heroes have suffered PTSD from their acts of heroism and the fund takes care of them and their families until they can get back on their feet. If a hero dies during their act of heroism, the fund will pay for their funeral, the family living expenses, plus full college tuition for the children.

Per Eric Zahren, “We don’t just give a hero a metal and walk away. We stay and make sure their family is taken care of. We recently just completed our longest stretch of support for one hero’s family when his last daughter died after we’d supported the family for 76 years.”

Can you imagine any organization monetarily supporting an entire family for that long?

Now you know why I was captivated and impressed… In a world where we are bombarded with horrific news, self-serving wars, continuous acts of selfishness, and an overall society where a total disregard for human lives is often spotlighted, isn’t it refreshing to know there are still organizations with integrity and goodwill who will generously award someone for their selfless act of heroism? I think so, but what do you think?

Thank you for reading and thoughtful writing everyone.