In Carnegie Hero Funds World News, Carnegie’s hero fund in the Netherlands—Stichting Carnegie Heldenfonds—is hoping to build a tradition with its first annual “heroes day,” held Oct. 7, 2015, in The Hague. The event brought together those from throughout the country who were awarded the Dutch Carnegie Medal for saving human life at great personal risk, some of the awardees dating back to 1994.
Carnegie’s hero fund in the Netherlands held a “heroes day” Oct. 7. Events held in the provincial parliament building included the recognition of the country’s three newest heroes, from left, Sander Schönhuth, Gijsbert Paul Vroom, and Martin Snel, who rescued a woman from her car as it was sinking in a canal in Amsterdam (video coverage of the rescue). Pictured with the awardees at right are Jan van Zanen, the mayor of Utrecht and chairman of the council of municipalities, and Dr. Jaap Smit, Dutch hero fund chair and commissioner for the king in the Province of South Holland.Also participating in Netherlands hero fund “heroes day” was hero fund board member Boi Jongejan.Also participating in Netherlands hero fund “heroes day” was Bart Brands, who the following week represented the fund in New York City at the 2015 presentation of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy.
Denmark
Carnegie’s hero fund in Denmark—Carnegies Belønningsfond for Heltemod, based in Copenhagen—was represented at the presentation of the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy by board members Bente Flindt Sørensen, left, and Henning Fode (not pictured). Sørensen, who is the former managing director of the state administration of greater Copenhagen, is shown with her husband, retired Danish Supreme Court Justice Per Sørensen. Fode is chamberlain and private secretary to the queen of Denmark, Margrethe II.
Sweden
Delegates to the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy events in New York included six from Sweden who are associated with the Swedish hero fund, Carnegiestiftelsen. From left, they are: Monika Köping-Höggård, Agneta Ahlbeck, Ulf Köping-Höggård, Greger Ahlbeck, Ann-Christine Lindeblad, and Bengt-Göran Bergstrand. Lindeblad chairs the hero fund; Agneta Ahlbeck is a member of the board, and Ulf Köping-Höggård is board secretary.
U.K and Ireland
Douglas Scott of Dunfermline, Scotland, center, and his wife, Christine, right, visited Pittsburgh for the first time in mid-October and on their itinerary were Carnegie-related sites: the museums, the libraries, the gravesite of Carnegie’s parents in Allegheny Cemetery, and of course the offices of the Hero Fund. It was a busman’s holiday for Scott, who serves as the chairman of both Carnegie’s Hero Fund Trust, which recognizes civilian heroism in the U.K. and Ireland, and the Dunfermline Trust. Commission staffers gave the Scotts a look into the Commission’s operations, including its investigative processes and its evolving participation in social media. Their hosts included, from left, Jeffrey Dooley, investigations manager, and case investigators Chris Foreman and Julia Panian. Panian is the Commission’s social media coordinator. Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, which is home to the four of his trusts serving the U.K.
