April Showers Bring Unexpected Awards

In the month of April, the Gandhi Brigade received a shower of recognitions that have been exceeded only by this month’s precipitation. First, thanks to our matron saint, Holly Brooks, I, Richard Jaeggi, was nominated for one of the IMPACT Now momentum awards. I didn’t win, but was a proud loser in good company: Rashad Price, Carlos Peroza, and Laurie Duker were each awarded one of the momentum awards.

Next we learned that last year’s Social Justice Summer documentary, A Hidden Existence, was accepted into the Heritage Film Festival in Bowie MD and received a Promising Filmmaker Award. This was probably the 5th or 6th time I have watched the documentary about teen homelessness and was pleased that it continues to hold my attention. The documentary explores the experience of three young people who are wrestling with growing up under the weight of homelessness. Most of the teen subjects did not become homeless for simple economic reasons but for more complex family reasons that related to their identification as LGBQT.

Our most prestigious April recognition was the 2014 Nancy Dworkin Award for Outstanding Service to Youth, sponsored by the Montgomery County Commission on Children and Youth. Holly also nominated us for this one. There will be an awards ceremony on May 12 at 7PM in Glen Echo Park, 7300 MacArthur Blvd, Glen Echo, MD, 20812. All friends of Gandhi Brigade are welcome.

Nonprofit work can be thankless, especially for those of us whose direct experience is organizational rather than service. The IRS has never thanked me for turning in our Form 990. Staff has yet to thank me for getting paid this week. The board of directors may someday give me a certificate suitable for framing in appreciation for those weekend and evening meetings that turn 40-hour weeks into 60-hour marathons.

No I don’t do this job for the glory or the appreciation. I do it because I know it is critically important. I do it for the appreciable change I can see in the behavior of young people. Mostly I do it as a matter of duty, like a citizen of the present paying off a debt I owe to the future. Sometimes when I become so duty-bound that I am more like a sleep-walker who hardly knows what he does, I look up and see something like: “Gandhi Brigade recognized for Outstanding Service to Youth.”

For a minute I forget about the sleepless nights, or the gnawing anxiety, and even the bone tired weariness, and for a few moments I am awake and feel very connected to the world… and very grateful that Holly Brooks continues to watch over us like a guardian angel.

— Richard Jaeggi