A veteran founds the Idaho Veteran’s Network. A mother helps her adult sons with disabilities. A boy assists his blind mother. A doctor gives his time in service. Young women strive to help their community and families. A camp director brings joy to children with cancer and their families.
What do all of these people have in common? They are Idaho’s Hometown Heroes.
“The criteria [to be awarded the Idaho Hometown Heroes Medal] is pretty simple: people nominate an individual who in their communities or neighborhood or in the state or family has done remarkable work, has been selfless, has done work to promote the cause of the people of Idaho,” said one of the medal’s founders, Dr. Fahim Rahim.
In 2011, brothers Dr. Fahim Rahim and Dr. Naeem Rahim were awarded the Ellis Island Medals of Honor, and were the first Idahoans to receive the medal, according to the JRM Foundation’s website. Fahim Rahim said he and Naeem Rahim created the Idaho Hometown Hero award to honor the people of Idaho for their amazing work and to share their unique and powerful stories.
“The medal is about the human story, not as much about what medals you have achieved in life,” he said. “It’s simple human story – what, as a human being, you have contributed to society at any level… At the end of the day, it’s all about inspiring others to do good.”
The Idaho’s Hometown Heroes Medal, sponsored by the JRM Foundation, helps our hometown heroes share their stories, inspiring others to share and become their own hometown hero successes.
“We are made to believe there is more evil in the world than there is goodness, but rather it is the opposite; there’s a lot more good in the world that’s happening than evil that’s happening, but the evil is just louder than the good,” Fahim Rahim said. “We want to counter that. We want to tell our kids and their kids and all our children and the communities that human beings are good people, this is a good planet to live on and there is a lot of good happening.”
Fahim Rahim said their focus is women and children’s health and education on a local, regional, national and global level. When the Idaho’s Hometown Heroes awards take place, they also play host to an expo with people from various global organizations with the same focus. Representatives have come from New York, Africa, Peru and other locations across the globe to exchange information and collaborate to reach their goals.
The Idaho’s Hometown Heroes Medal Ceremony is free to the public, and everyone is welcome to attend the event and come support these real-life heroes.
“We are redefining the definition of a superhero,” he said. “It’s not Superman; it’s not Batman; It’s not Hulk. It could be your neighbor; it could be your teacher. If you look at those, you can come across heroes in your daily life and then that will inspire you.”
For more information about Idaho’s Hometown Heroes, visit the JRM Foundation’s website at jrmfoundation.org.
--Article by Nikki Siegel. Video by Steve Smede. For this year's winners,
click here.