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Meet Real Life Heroes At Florida Holocaust Museum’s Annual ‘To Life… To Heroes…To Courage’ Dinner
The Florida Holocaust Museum’s annual “To Life” dinner celebrates the courage of outstanding individuals whose heroic actions changed many lives and often altered the course of history. This year’s event features guest speaker Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager in Rwanda, who was the inspiration for the Academy Award-nominated movie “Hotel Rwanda.”
Again hosted by Academy Award-winning actor Jon Voight, a long-time supporter of the Museum, the annual fundraiser is dedicated to honoring heroes among us. Special guests include Major David Rozelle, who lost his right foot to a landmine in Iraq and has since become the only amputee in recent military history to return to the same battlefield; Carnegie Hero Medal Recipient Kerry Reardon, who jumped off the Howard Frankland bridge to save a child trapped in a car; Holocaust Survivor Sam Schryver, who saved more than 900 camp prisoners; and, Former Marine Staff Sgt. Jason Thomas, who saved two police officers buried in the rubble after September 11th.
Rusesabagina showed great courage and social
responsibility when he provided shelter for more than 1,000 refugees
who would have otherwise been murdered during a modern-day genocide in
Rwanda in 1994. Nearly 1 million people were killed in 100 days. He is
the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the
Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Civil Rights Museum Freedom
Award and the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award.
Funds raised at the “To Life & Liberation”
event will benefit a variety of programs, including the Museum’s
education and advocacy programs, which include the Museum’s Teaching
Trunks. The trunks are filled with age-appropriate educational
materials that help teach character education and other valuable
lessons, and are sent free of charge to those teachers in Florida and
throughout the Southeast who request them. Materials are correlated to
the Sunshine State Standards and meet a state mandate that requires all
schools to teach Holocaust education.
The Florida Holocaust Museum honors the memory
of the innocent men, women, and children who suffered or died in the
Holocaust. The Museum is dedicated to teaching the inherent worth and
dignity of all human life in order to prevent future genocides.
Tickets for the Florida Holocaust Museum’s
annual “To Life” dinner, to be held Saturday, Feb. 24, at the A la
Carte Pavilion in Tampa, are now available. For reservations or event
sponsorship information, contact Danna Klemmer at 727-820-0100, ext 243.
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