Whenever possible, the Hero Fund coordinates a local, in-person presentation of the Carnegie Medal to a newly awarded Carnegie hero or, in posthumous cases, their family. Because the limited number of Commission members and staff cannot present the Medal in each circumstance, the Commission will reach out to various local, state, and federal officials, or a volunteer cadre of previously awarded Carnegie heroes to present the Carnegie Medal. Our goal with these presentations are to honor the recipient in the way they wish to be honored.
Due to the level of detail involved in each Carnegie Medal including the rescuer’s name and other details about their heroism, the medals take 2-3 months to be produced. Therefore presentations are often scheduled for three months after notification has been made to the hero or their family.
Once a presenter has been appointed and the time and date of the presentation are confirmed, we will ship the medal to the presenter 7-10 before the ceremony.
There is no set template for presentations. They can be big or small, public or private, or at a standing event (such as a city council meeting or police department awards ceremony) or a stand-alone event. It is really up to the hero, their family, and the officials involved.
Presentations typically run 15-30 minutes but can be adjusted to fit whatever parameters are appropriate.
More information is available on our website about presentations including some videos of example presentations: https://www.carnegiehero.org/resources/resources-for-media-presenters/
The form below is asking the heroes or their families their preferences for a presentation.