I am honored to share that on October 19, 2008 the Atlanta chapter of the NFL alumni association is awarding me the “Difference Maker” award for their “Caring for Kids” program.

When I was sixteen years old the youngest of my four brothers was born where we lived with my mother and father in a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment, in the Bronx in New York City. As the oldest sibling, taking care of babies and young children, became a natural course of events, that gave me an understanding of the innocence of children, their dependence on adults, and the joy and gratification of comforting a child in distress.

It is my belief, supported by statistics, that when it comes to healthcare, a protocol of pre-symptomatic screening can have an immeasurable effect upon the quality and longevity of life of any human being. If that human being happens to be the parent of a dependent child, the domino effect is geometric in its effect upon the child. The grief a child experiences when a parent gets seriously ill, or possibly even dies, is only the tip of the iceberg. The entire future and personal achievements, as well as the contributions to society as a whole of that child will most likely never reach their fullest potential.

As chairman of the Ican benefit group, I feel “good” that I am in a position to enable adults to take advantage of certain comprehensive pre-symptomatic healthcare testing. Although I personally may never know the positive effect upon any individual, I do know that statistics support my thesis and I sleep better at night knowing that I took part in making a difference in even one family’s life.