Every year, the National Liberty Museum recognizes students around the country who stand up for others with our Young Heroes Award, sponsored by TD Bank. Every year, we recognize one student who has demonstrated responsibility and excellent character with our President’s Honor Award. Our winner for 2009 was Van Morn, an amazing Philadelphian whose good works appear to be unstoppable.
Van had just completed his final year at Olney High School in Philadelphia, and now attends Thaddeus Stevens University. He was nominated by Mrs. Elaine Steinbacher, his advisor for the Pennsylvania Congressional Awards Program.
Olney is a neighborhood in North Philadelphia with a rich history. Originally rolling hills of farmland settled by German-Americans, Olney has become home to people from all over the world. Its story is Philadelphia’s story. The neighborhood, like most of the city, was hit hard by the deindustrialization of the 1960s and 70s. Factories closed down. Businesses, and the jobs they offered, disappeared. Crime rates went up. Many people moved out. In their place, new populations moved in: Vietnamese, Columbians, Koreans, African-Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Laotians, Cambodians. They saw the opportunity in this neighborhood. They have worked hard and kept Olney alive, carrying on old traditions and starting new ones.
Van and his family are a part of this renewal. He, his parents, and his two younger sisters moved from the country of Cambodia to the United States, in search of a promise. His grandmother, who lost three children to the dictatorship of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, lives in California and took the family in. She didn’t have enough room in her house. It was not easy, but that was no deterrent.
Van grew up in a world of poverty, and his family worked hard every day to survive. They only had enough to eat because his mother planted and cultivated crops when she wasn’t working. “We are a surviving type of family,” Van says.
This time last year, he had a job, and was a full-time high school student, and faced the additional challenge of becoming a fluent English speaker. Still, he volunteered your time to the less fortunate. He gave his time to the Inglis House for Disabled Adults. He initiated “clean-up-the-streets” programs in your neighborhood. He even helped with the Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program, as their official photographer.
Van is the kind of person who sees the opportunities ahead of him, and reaches for them. At the same time, he does his best to give other people an opportunity too. He’s a hard worker, and an exceptional student, but the quality that best defines him is his gratitude. He is happy to have been given a chance to succeed, and he can’t help but give back to everyone around him.
Van won the President’s Honor because he has proven himself to be a remarkable Young Hero. We admire his can-do attitude, and for his refusal to give up. We honored him for his giving nature and his commitment to others. He has already achieved so much, and now has a whole lifetime to build on those accomplishments and to inspire others. Congratulations, Van!