Saturday, 15 August 2009

A helping hand is rewarded

By MORGAN ZALOT
Philadelphia Daily News

zalotm@phillynews.com 215-854-5218

Van Morn's eyes lit up when he talked about moving to Lancaster this Sunday to begin studies at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.

"I'm pretty scared, but I'm fine with it," the 18-year-old graduate of Olney High School said. "I believe in myself. I know I can do it."

And thanks to his tireless work in his community during the last two years since he moved to Philadelphia from Cambodia with his family, Morn was awarded a new laptop and a $1,000 bond — just in time for college.

Morn, one of 26 students chosen from several hundred applicants, was honored yesterday at Philadelphia's National Liberty Museum as part of TD Bank's Young Heroes awards. For his work in his community and around Philadelphia, Morn received the President's Honor Award.

Morn's parents and his two sisters looked on as he accepted his medal, check and laptop from TD Bank Greater Philadelphia President Ron Matthew.

Although his older sister, Chanry Morn, said his family expected him to do big things, Morn's triumph yesterday was a far cry from just three years ago when he and his family lived in poverty in Cambodia.

"It's remarkable," Matthew said of Morn's ability to come to the United States and, despite the language barrier, go on to serve his community. "So many people faced with adversity and tragedies give up."

In Cambodia, three members of Morn's extended family were killed in the Khmer Rouge rule.

When he moved to Philadelphia, Morn said he overcame his struggles by volunteering at Inglis House for disabled adults, at Belmont Avenue and Conshohocken State Road, Wynnefield Heights; by serving as a photographer for the Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program; and by initiating cleanup projects in his neighborhood.

Morn said that much of his volunteer work resulted from his senior project, and that he plans to improve his English for his two years at the college before transferring to Penn State University or Marywood University, in Scranton.

He said he is looking forward to studying politics and computers in college.

"It was a tough choice," National Liberty Museum CEO Gwen Borowsky said of Morn's selection. "But his story is so compelling. You talk about someone who's overcome so many odds and started with so little."

Along with the awards, an exhibit detailing the lives and work of this year's young honorees, the rest of whom did work in everything from youth-culture blogs to fundraising, will be erected in the Old City museum.

"Every year, it's just inspiring all over again," she said, adding that this is the national program's ninth year at the museum.

"We want all 65,000 visitors to see these stories and be inspired."

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