Academy Honors NBA Star Mutombo with Humanitarian Award
Pictured left to right are Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo and Academy Alum and Houston Rockets Vice President of Basketball Operations and Director of Player Personnel Dennis Lindsey.
Houston Rockets center Dikembe Mutombo was honored with the United States Sports Academy’s Jackie Robinson Humanitarian Award. Academy Alum and Houston Rockets Vice President of Basketball Operations and Director of Player Personnel Dennis Lindsey presented Mutombo with the award at the Toyota Center on 15 February.
Mutombo, a native of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has spent the last several years tirelessly planning and raising funds through the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation for a new hospital in his native country. Mutombo has personally donated $15 million to the $29 million project over the years and he has raised millions from private donations, business leaders, fellow players and NBA owners.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is approximately one quarter of the size of the United States. It has a population of 47.4 million people. Of these, almost one in five dies before their 5th birthday from diseases, such as measles and polio, that have been virtually eradicated from developed countries through immunization programs. Mutombo recited the sad statistics in the December issue of Sky Magazine, “Africa has already lost 23 million to AIDS, and has 35 million living with the virus, more than 40 million with malaria and tuberculosis and half the kids in Africa under 15 won’t reach their most productive years, 24 to 25.”
The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation is focused on several health initiatives. The first is the delivery of healthcare services to the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The new Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital is expected to open in the capital city of Kinshasa in 2007. The hospital will be named after Mutombo’s mother, and is the first of its kind to be built in the country in four decades. The 10-acre, 300-bed facility boasts state-of-the-art medical equipment and will serve as a teaching hospital and research center.
The Foundation also advocates prevention activities which follow a public health model with a strong educational component to help children grow into healthy, well-developed adults. The Foundation has engaged in a research program to limit and, hopefully, eradicate many diseases prevalent in tropical climates and developing countries. In addition, the Foundation is a proponent for collaborative efforts and recognizes that many external factors have a significant impact on the health of individuals and communities. The Foundation will design and implement programs to encourage good physical hygiene, provide clean water and develop an ecological consciousness.
In 1999, Mutombo received USA Weekend's Most Caring Athlete Award. In 2000, he received the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award and the President's Service Award by President William J. Clinton. In 2004, Mutombo received TIME magazine's European Hero award and he appeared on the cover issue. Mutombo also received the Helen Hayes MacArthur Award from the Helen Hayes Hospital Foundation.
The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation is a non-profit 501( c )(3) organization founded in 1997 by Dikembe Mutombo. Its mission is to improve the health, education and quality of life of the people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
At the presentation, Mutombo received the Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medal and Academy Rosette. The Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medallion was designed by the Academy's Sport Artist of the Year 1990, Blair Buswell. Mutombo was also presented with the Academy Rosette, modeled after the Legion of Honour, which was instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. A rosette is a symbol of recognition and affiliation.
The Jackie Robinson Humanitarian Award has been presented annually by the Academy since 1987 as part of the Academy’s Awards of Sport Medallion Series, which pays “Tribute to the Artist and the Athlete.” Past winners include Bill Cosby, Michael Jordan, Reggie White, Andre Agassi and Pat Tillman. For a complete list of recipients, please visit www.asama.org. The award is presented by the Academy to an individual in sports who has demonstrated a concern for mankind. This individual should exhibit the qualities of dedication, grace under pressure, personal sacrifice, compassion, hope and dignity that characterize the promotion of human welfare and social reform.
