Seattle Seahawks Doug Baldwin has been award the Martin Luther King Medal of Distinguished Service Award, reports the Seattle Times.
The Super Bowl champ received the award from King County for his humanitarian service to the local community.
The wide receiver partnered with the City of Renton to build the Family First Community Center project which offers a variety of youth services including sports, art, music and English as a Second Language classes.
He also helped to create the Seahawks Players Equality and Justice for All Action Fund which has raised $1 million to support such causes as building better police relations with the community and for fighting homelessness.
Baldwin wishes more could be done.
“Playing devil’s advocate, I look at it as a negative that there’s still such a need for people to advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves,” Baldwin said to Seahawks.com. “In a society that’s so advanced with technology and advanced thought, the fact that we’re still so desperately in need of people to advocate for others, it’s disheartening at times.”
King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove presented the award to Baldwin.
“Dr. King understood the importance of the opportunities athletes had to use their platforms for positive social change,” Councilmember Dave Upthegrove said during the awards presentation, according to the Seattle Times. “Doug’s commitment to service in Renton and all of the communities in King County embodies that vision – and we are better for it.”
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