Ali Center Lifetime Member & longtime friend Yank Barry presented Muhammad Ali with the Lifetime Achievement Award given by The Leaders Magazine & The American Leadership Development Association during Ali’s 70th Birthday Gala in Louisville, KY
Yank Barry & Muhammad Ali
“I was told there was a problem here. I’m here to do all I can to help. People are hungry. People need help, and if I can do anything to help then I’m ready. These are my brothers and sisters and we should treat each other like brother and sister.”
Louisville, KY (PRWEB) January 17, 2012
Respect, Confidence, Conviction, Dedication, Giving, and Spirituality are Muhammad Ali’s core values. These six tenets have provided the foundation for a life that has touched millions of people around the World and has earned Ali the title “The Greatest”. Books have been written and movies have been made about this iconic athlete in an attempt to preserve the legacy of the most recognizable person on the Earth. Ali’s legacy is much more than just three Heavyweight Championship Belts and an Olympic Gold Medal. As a Global Village Champion Muhammad Ali, along with his close friend Yank Barry, has been instrumental in providing over 555,000,000 meals to the hungry over the past 20 years. Ali made this remark while on a mission with Barry to deliver food to handicapped refugee children in Cote d’Ivoire; “I was told there was a problem here. I’m here to do all I can to help. People are hungry. People need help, and if I can do anything to help then I’m ready. These are my brothers and sisters and we should treat each other like brother and sister.”
Muhammad Ali used his celebrity and influence to assist Global Village Champions to deliver food to children who may not have been reached without his help. It is important to remember that he didn’t just phone his contribution in. Ali traveled to many inhospitable regions of the World as a Global Village Champion and personally accompanied the shipments of food, medical supplies, clothing, school supplies and hope. This demonstration of selfless humanitarian leadership is a key reason that The Leaders Magazine and the American Leadership Development Association chose to bestow their Lifetime Achievement Award upon Muhammad Ali during the 2011 GLA Awards in Kuala Lumpur this past July. Muhammad was not able to attend the awards ceremony. Lonnie Ali, Muhammad’s wife, asked his friend and fellow award recipient Yank Barry to accept the award on his behalf. Mr. Barry presented the award to Ali in the presence of 350 invited guests who had gathered at the Ali Center in Louisville Kentucky to celebrate Muhammad Ali’s 70th birthday.
Mr. Barry received the Philanthropist of the Year award at the same 2011 GLA ceremony on July 22. This was the sixth time in twenty years that Barry and Ali have received awards together. Their humanitarian work has earned them joint recognition in Atlanta GA, Liberia, Indonesia, Morocco, Mexico and Malaysia and their journey is chronicled on http://www.globalvillagechampions.org.
Ali’s Parkinson’s symptoms may have restricted his travel in recent years but his spirit is as strong as ever. He remains an inspiration to millions. When asked what it was like to travel around the world feeding children with Muhammad Ali Yank Barry remarked, “It was like traveling with the Pope but without the security. Everyone wants to touch him and they are all touched by him.”
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