Nominated 2022 CNN Heroes, Robert "Sugar Bear" Lark - Nominated By Janis Barksdale, Founder/Pres Of Robert ("Sugar Bear") Lark Advisory Council Story By Van Stone Phila. Front Page News frontpagenews1@yahoo.com
.jpg)
On Mon, Dec 12, 2022, at 10:54 AM, Janis Barksdale wrote:
In
February 2014, I nominated Sugar Bear for the CNN Hero award. I knew it
was a long shot but as you know nothing beats a failure but a TRY.
In 2014, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and due to my treatments I lost my focus on this.
As is his forte, he encouraged me to watch the CNN Hero awards last night. There was a Hero by the name of Tyrique Glasgow from South Philly. Due to the efforts he has put in place for the youth in South Philly the murder rate has gone down. I hope to put him in touch with our brother in Pittsburgh to help in that area. Below is a sample of what I submitted in 2014. I did receive confirmation from CNN that they received my application.
Name of
Nominee: Robert Lark AM4192
Phone Number
: 724-852-2902
Q In your own
words, why does your nominee deserve recognition as a CNN Hero?
A I'm not even sure this nomination will be accepted but I
must try. Robert Lark is on death row in PA but even on the row he spends most
of his time trying to help others. He has helped people get money to pay rent
get food, cars, jobs,medical care,computers and get released from prison. For
over 30 yrs while fighting for his release as an innocent he continues to help
others and never ask for anything for himself. His motto is when someone is
released even if its not him that means God is in the neighborhood. Sugar Bear
as he is known to his friends has helped people all over the world and has done
it all from death row.
Q How have your
nominee's efforts made a difference for the better?
A As a death row inmate he reads more than 7 papers a day and
misses nothing. He sends people information regarding their illness that will
help them, he gives other prisoners information that has helped them obtain
their freedom He has done so without the use of a computer. He was granted a
new trial in 2007 but has not been tried. He is a hero to all who know him and
he continues to encourage others through cards, letters and materials.
Q Is there a
specific incident or turning point that motivated your nominee to take action?
A Life and the injustices that occur on a daily bases
motivates him to help people. No matter the race, religion or beliefs. Almost
every day I am commissioned by him to take information to someone he may not
know that will help them during a foreclosure; a job fair is in the
neighborhood or its sweeps month let this reporter know this is happening. A
business is failing let them know that this organization gives money to those
doing that kind of work.
Q Is there
anything else that makes your nominee exceptional or unique?
A I have letters from all sorts of people he has helped and
encouraged over the years. Inmates, ex-inmates, politicians, lawyers, doctors,
authors, pastors, literacy agents and friends. In all of their correspondence
they all say he is compassionate, encouraging, intelligent, always optimistic,
full of life and never bitter. Sugar Bear is a person that does good for
without any hope of getting anything in return he does it because it’s the
right thing to do. He is a true Hero.
Q How will
being recognized as a CNN Hero further your nominee's cause?
A Sugar Bear is a different Hero. As a young boy he was
considered a modern day Robin Hood, taking care of 8 siblings and everyone in
the neighborhood that needed help. This nomination would not be about him but
about all those in prison unjustly.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment