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November 1, 2008    DOL Home > ODEP > New Freedom Initiative   

Secretary of Labor's SPIRIT Award

The fifth anniversary of the Secretary of Labor’s New Freedom Initiative Awards marked the first year of the SPIRIT Award.

The Secretary of Labor’s SPIRIT Award is given to an individual with a disability or an organization demonstrating leadership and an unyielding commitment to achieving success. Award recipients are recognized for their qualities to inspire and enhance the ability of Americans with disabilities to enter and participate fully in the 21st century workforce.

These qualities include:

• Strength in leadership
• Perseverance in unyielding commitment to
achieving success
• Integrity
• Role model
• Independence
• Trail blazer

2008 SPIRIT Award

Secretary's Spirit Awardees 2008

It's About Talent

JIM ABBOTT, San Diego, California

Values at Work: Pitching a Message of Inspiration and Experience

Mr. Jim Abbott

Jim Abbott is a former major league baseball (MLB) pitcher who played for the California Angels, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees.  The highlight of his career was pitching a no-hitter for the Yankees in 1993.  But he is also remembered for excelling at the game despite being born with
only one hand.  Today he is using his experience on the field to help increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities in all fields.

Mr. Abbott started playing baseball in his front yard in Flint, Michigan.  After high school, he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays, but opted for college and pitched for the University of Michigan, where he played for three years.  While there, he was honored as the first baseball pitcher to win the James E. Sullivan Award as the top amateur athlete in the U.S.  In 1988, he was drafted by the California Angels and pitched the U.S. to a gold medal in the Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. 

Mr. Abbott retired from baseball in 1998, but he is still using his talent-this time to help raise awareness about the value people with disabilities bring to America's businesses.  

In baseball, it was what Mr. Abbott could do-not what he couldn't do-that mattered.  Through his outreach and advocacy, he has helped employers across the country gain the same valuable perspective.


A Model Corporate Citizen

STEVEN A. BURD, Pleasanton, California

Values at Work: Gaining by Giving Back to the Community

Steven Burd is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Safeway Inc., one of North America's largest food and drug retailers.  Under his leadership, the company is committed to creating an inclusive workplace and currently employs nearly 10,000 people with disabilities.  In addition, more than $172 million-the equivalent of 20 percent of Safeway's net income-has been donated to programs focused on assisting people with disabilities and to charitable causes such as cancer research, education and food banks. 

Mr. Burd joined Safeway in 1992 and since that time has placed special emphasis on corporate citizenship and philanthropy efforts.  As a result, the company has helped raise money to support a variety of organizations, including the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Easter Seals, Augie's Quest and Special Olympics. 

In fact, each year Safeway dedicates two months, April and August, to fundraising for disability-related organizations.  This year, Safeway will use money raised during April to fund community disability centers operated by Easter Seals that provide rehabilitation and training.  A portion will also go toward creating a grants program to fund job training and autism awareness and support initiatives.  In addition, through a unique partnership with Special Olympics, Safeway will help fund efforts to provide year-round sports training and competition to people with disabilities.

With Mr. Burd at the helm, Safeway is delivering on its commitment to be a model corporate citizen by making the communities in which it operates better places for all people, including those with disabilities, to live and work.

2007 SPIRIT Award

On October 24, 2007, Secretary Elaine L. Chao presented the award to The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis
Marc A. Buoniconti
Miami, Florida

Values at Work: Making a difference for those with spinal injuries

2007 Spirit Award winner Marc Buoniconti

Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao (right) presents Marc A. Buoniconti (center) with the Secretary's SPIRIT Award at this year's NFI Awards. Pictured at left is Marc's mother, Terry. (DOL Photo/Shawn Moore)

The inspiration for the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis began in 1985 when Marc Buoniconti suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down. In that moment, he joined those who know the devastation of such injuries, and his struggle to recover led Marc’s father, NFL Hall of fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, and Dr. Barth A. Green to found the Miami Project.

Since then, the Project has become the world’s largest and most comprehensive spinal cord injury center. With over 200 doctors, scientists and clinicians, the Project has made unparalleled and spectacular findings in its cutting edge research, and generated hope for millions of people worldwide paralyzed by spinal cord injury. The Project is renowned for pursuing a revolutionary strategy of gathering together the finest minds in neuroscience in an all-out assault on spinal cord injuries and promoting the kind of intensive collaboration between the scientific and clinical communities which holds the best prospect for new and effective treatments.

Committed to finding a cure and seeing millions worldwide walk again, Marc Buoniconti serves as Ambassador for The Miami Project and conducts a rigorous campaign to ensure that this important work is seen clearly and positively by an ever-increasing public. In its crusade to understand and eliminate paralysis, the Miami Project gave Marc and so many others the promise of someday unlocking the secrets of spinal cord repair and regeneration – and hope for a better future.

2006 SPIRIT Award

On October 26, 2006, Secretary Elaine L. Chao presented the first award to Dave Dravecky.

Former Major League Baseball Pitcher and Secretary SPIRIT Award recipient Dave Dravecky with wife, Jan, (left) presents autographed bat to Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. (DOL photo/Shawn Moore)

Former Major League Baseball Pitcher and Secretary SPIRIT Award recipient Dave Dravecky with wife, Jan, (left) presents autographed bat to Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. (DOL photo/Shawn Moore)

Dave Dravecky
Colorado Springs, Colorado


Values at Work:
Commitment to inspiring others


Dave Dravecky is a former Major League Baseball pitcher, bestselling author, motivational speaker, and founder of Outreach of Hope. In the seventh year of his baseball career, a cancerous tumor was discovered in his pitching arm. After initial treatment and defying all odds, Dave came back to pitch once again in the Major Leagues and became an inspiration not only to cancer fighters, but to all who needed hope that day. But the cancer returned, and the following years were a whirlwind of surgery, radiation, pain and depression, all in the glaring light of the media. Eventually, his arm was amputated to stop the spread of the cancer and save his life.

In response to thousands of letters and requests received from people encouraged by his example, Dave Dravecky founded, with his wife Jan, the Outreach of Hope ministry in 1991 to offer comfort, encouragement and hope to those who suffer from cancer, amputation or serious illness. Dave and Jan Dravecky are also the bestselling authors of eight inspirational books, in addition to publishing The Encourager, a national magazine addressing the emotional and spiritual aspects of suffering.

Dave Dravecky continues to examine the impact of the amputation on his life and powerfully inspires others with what he has discovered during the journey. His story is one of courage and perseverance in the midst of dark and overwhelming uncertainty. He genuinely relates to men and women with disabilities everywhere through loss and suffering, faith, encouragement, hope, reaching out to others, and finding the strength to say goodbye to the past.

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