Lt. Col. Jeff Blankenship, 1104th Mobility Support Battalion commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Rick Beck, 1104th MSB command sergeant major, present Philadelphia 76ers' center, Spencer Hawes with the Commander's Award for Public Service April 10, 2013, at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The senior leaders recognized Hawes for his contributions to support service members and their families. (U.S. Air Force photo by 2nd Lt. Alexis McGee/Released) (Photo by nd Lt. Alexis McGeeReleased)
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. —
Two Army battalion leaders from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst presented the Commander's Award for Public Service to a Philadelphia 76ers player during a pregame ceremony April 10 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Lt. Col. Jeff Blankenship, 1104th Mobilization Support Battalion commander, and Command Sgt. Maj. Rick Beck, 1104th Mobilization Support Battalion command sergeant major, presented the award to Philadelphia 76ers' Center Spencer Hawes with the award for his contributions to service members and their families.
Blankenship and Beck joined Hawes at center court during a pregame ceremony to present him with the award.
"I felt honored to present this award to Mr. Hawes since he is a professional athlete, but I was more proud to present this to him because of the generous and patriotic contributions he has made to our service members," said Beck. "Mr. Hawes epitomizes what we all should try to be, in my opinion."
Hawes has been in Philadelphia since 2010 and has been dedicated to assisting service members and their families since his arrival. Hawes was no stranger to showing appreciation for service members and their families even before his time in Philadelphia. Hawes was engaged with military-support efforts as a Sacramento Kings player from 2007-2010 by donating a $200 shopping spree to 25 respective military families during the 2008 holiday season.
The 7-foot-1-inch player continued his outreach efforts after arriving in the "City of Brotherly Love." He hosted a Thanksgiving-themed "Salute to our Troops" dinner in November 2010 at the National Guard Armory in Cherry Hill, N.J. Seventy-six military families who had at least one family member preparing for a deployment to Afghanistan attended the event. Each family received a Thanksgiving basket that included a turkey, ham and traditional Thanksgiving sides.
Hawes also hosted a shopping event called "Santa Hawes" in December 2012, which is where he met Beck. Thirty children of recently-deployed Soldiers attended the event and were each given $300 to spend on holiday gifts. Michael Goings, the 76ers community relations director, spoke to Beck at the event and informed him of the many outreach efforts Hawes made for service members. Beck said he felt Hawes' generosity and patriotism deserved recognition for his efforts so he prepared the award and submitted it for approval.
The award is intended to recognize Hawes for his military-support efforts and highlight him for selflessly assisting military families.
"It means a lot (to receive the award), but more importantly, it brings recognition to everything (military members) go through and not just the military members, but their families and their whole support system and everything they sacrifice for us that we, time and time again, take for granted," said Hawes, who dons the number "00" on his jersey. "With everything that's going on in the world in current events, it seems like that's the only time that they really get the appreciation they deserve and that's a shame."
Hawes attributes part of his appreciation for military service to his grandfather who is a World War II veteran.
"The military is a segment of society that doesn't get enough credit for what they do," said Hawes. "It's humbling to be recognized for working with the military."