Freedom Festival hands out awards for building schools, saving flags

PROVO — Two humanitarians, a family that sent five of its young men into World War II and a garbage collector who saves American flags received the Freedom Festival's Freedom Award at a gala Friday night.

The Freedom Award, a sparkling crystal eagle, is given to people who have demonstrated an extraordinary devotion to the cause of liberty, either in the United States or abroad. Friday's recipients received the award in front of an audience of hundreds gathered in BYU's Wilkinson Center for the gala, which included dinner and musical entertainment.

Greg Mortenson received the Freedom Award for building schools in the remote areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a focus on educating young girls.

"Unless girls are educated, society will never, never change," Mortenson said.

Mortenson's commitment to building schools in these regions began with a promise. While descending the Himalayan peak K2, Mortenson became separated from his group, eventually ending up in a remote mountain village. When he saw children — most of them boys — gathered on the frosty, open ground to learn, he told the village chief that would change.

"I'm going to build you a school," he said.

It took several years to obtain funding and work out the details, but Mortenson finally made good on his promise. He went on to build more than 130 schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He also wrote a best-selling book about his experiences, "Three Cups of Tea."

"We all have an innate tendency (to believe) that we should help people," Mortenson said. "But it's important not just to help people, but to empower people. When you empower people, really incredible things can happen."

Garbage collector Jeffrey Olsen received the award for saving improperly disposed American flags he found while on the job.

"You've got to do the right thing; you've got to get the flags to the right spot," said Olsen, of Chicago.

His interest in rescuing flags was sparked when two of his co-workers brought in flags from their routes. When he asked why they had the flags, the garbage collectors explained they had been thrown away.

"It just kind of clicked in my head," he said. "I had to go with it." Olsen went on to gather more than 250 American flags, giving them to a veterans group that properly disposed of them.

"Small people can end up doing big things," Olsen said.