Nebraska Appleseed recognized several courageous Nebraskans Thursday night whose work has contributed to the fight for justice and opportunity for all at the 2012 Good Apple Awards.
More than 300 people attended the Good Apple Awards at the Omaha Livestock Exchange Building ballroom. Thursday’s event was the fourth such awards celebration for Nebraska Appleseed and drew its largest crowd ever.
“It was an amazing night with so many friends and partners helping to recognize these outstanding community leaders and celebrate the tremendous successes of the last year,” said Becky Gould, Nebraska Appleseed Executive Director. “We could not have chosen a better group of recipients who have worked to tackle tough issues and illustrate what can happen when we all come together to stand up for justice and opportunity for all Nebraskans.”
State senator Kathy Campbell was honored with the Jim Wolf Equal Justice Award for her efforts in the Legislature to champion Nebraska children. Senator Campbell helped lead the fight to ensure all Nebraska mothers receive access to prenatal care and dedicated herself to leading the charge to fix the state’s broken child welfare system.
The Nebraska ICWA coalition was recognized with the Seeds of Justice Award for their work to protect Native American children in the state’s child welfare system and ensure they remain connected to their culture.
Carolina Quezada of the Latino Center of the Midlands, Sergio Sosa of Heartland Workers Center, and Willie Hamilton of Black Men United were the recipients of Appleseed’s Roots of Justice Award. The three Omaha community leaders brought their communities together to build a strong, diverse coalition to protect voting rights for all Nebraskans.
Rachel Jacobson, Founder and Executive Director of Film Streams, was recognized with the Milo Mumgard Emerging Leader Award. Jacobsen’s work with Omaha’s non-profit film theater has provided an important platform for many diverse artists to make their voices heard and connect the community to stories that need to be told.
“I want to congratulate all of our award winners,” Gould said. “Every one of them shares Appleseed’s mission of justice and opportunity for all Nebraskans. With wonderful leaders like these in our state, we are energized to continue our work to stand up for justice in Nebraska.”
Photos from the event are available at Nebraska Appleseed’s Facebook page. Photo credit: “Courtesy Nebraska Appleseed.”