Aliyya Swaby Photo
When Mayor Toni Harp asked New Haveners to help the people of Freetown Sierra Leone i in the face of the ebola crisis in that community last year, they responded.
Their response produced money to purchase four vans, and two cargo containers filled with school and medical supplies and thousands of cases of water. It also produced top honors for New Haven, Freetown’s sister city.
New Haven’s generosity has earned the city this year’s Sister Cities International Innovation in Humanitarian Assistance Award. And the woman Harp tapped to spearhead the city’s emergency assistance endeavor, Althea Norcott (pictured), will be recognized at the annual Sister Cities International Conference in Minneapolis this year as the Sister Cities international volunteer of the year.
“We know we have a great place here,” Harp said at a Monday press conference at City Hall where she recognized Norcott and all who had contributed to raising funds. “We know New Haven boasts a long, long list of world0class attributes.
“But what this award recognizes is the quality that truly separates New Haven from other places: the people who live and work and study and contribute here.”
Harp said New Haveners are generous and operate in the spirit of “let’s get it done.”
Norcott, a New Haven native who has lived in the city most of her life, said because of the generosity of the community, which ranged from donations from local colleges and universities to the “pennies of school children” the city reached a challenging goal. The goal was to raise $100,000 in about 12 weeks; organizers were able to surpass that mark raising about $114,000.
Markeshia Ricks photo
Al Marder (pictured at right in the photo), president of The Amistad Commission Inc., whom Harp said has often pushed her “to do impossible things” like the campaign for Freetown, said what New Haveners did for its sister city was “not charity, but solidarity, and thanks for the Amistad captives who struggled for freedom and changed the course of U.S. history.”
Sister Cities International’s annual awards are given in several categories including best overall, innovation (arts and culture, economic development, humanitarian assistance, and youth and education), volunteer of the year, and youth leadership. Award winners will be honored at a special ceremony on Saturday.