Human Relations Commissions Looking for Local Heroes

By Brianna Brickweg
Contributing Writer
The Fargo Human Relations Commission (FHRC) is accepting nominees for the annual Human Rights Award.

The award honors those who are making changes towards a better community and those involved in human rights issues.

Nominees can range from flood volunteers to those who work with people with disabilities to a peace officer who’s saved a life. Organizations or agencies that have shown exemplary community service have also been successfully nominated in the past.

The FHRC award will be presented as part of the “Remembering MLK Celebration” on January 16 at the Fargo Theatre at 7pm.

“The purpose of this award is to try and showcase people that don’t often get the recognition that they deserve,” said Raul Gomez, a member of FHRC, “This is an opportunity to give them the praise they deserve and to let the community know how important they are.”

FHRC works with groups who experience discriminatory treatment, ranging from complaints of mistreatment due to sexual orientation to racial discrimination. The commission promotes acceptance and respect for all people.

“The Human Relations Commission is dedicated to protect and to stamp out discrimination. We are very concerned about people being treated fairly in all facets of life, no matter who you are,” said Dave Lanpher, the chairperson of FHRC.

The nomination is open to the community until November 9. Anyone can nominate a person or organization that has worked towards making the community more cohesive.

This award brings attention to those who go above and beyond to better the community and these people cannot receive praise if no one speaks up to praise them. Thanks cannot be given to the unknown.

“This is a people’s award. This is made for and by citizens of Fargo and if you don’t participate in the nomination process, it means that somebody who maybe very deserving doesn’t get recognized,” said Raul Gomez.

The nomination form can be found at http://www.cityoffargo.com/humanrelations at the bottom of the page.

The Moorhead Human Rights Commission, which works on similar issues and collaborates with the FHRC, is also looking for nominees for their annual Human Rights Award.

“We’re trying to have both of our agencies work on similar issues that we find relevant to both of our communities,” said Octavio Gomez of the MHRC, “It’s been very successful.”

The deadline for this nomination will be sometime in the first week of December. More information can be found at http://www.cityofmoorhead.com

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