Honoring the 2022 Parents of the Year
“To become a parent yourself, you begin to understand and realize the sacrifices that all parents make,” said Mr. Edward Polk, who, alongside his wife, Sharon, was awarded UPF’s 2022 Parents of the Year award during a July 24 online program celebrating National Parents’ Day. “We share this recognition with all parents, because on some level we all make sacrifices for all of our children.”
The Polk couple were among 52 nominees for the award, which honors National Parents’ Day and recognizes the important role of parents in America and throughout the world. Award recipients also included Pastor Quanitta Favorite-Battle (2022 Single Parent of the Year), Mr. Raeese and Mrs. Aisha Khan (2022 Faith Community Parents of the Year), and Mr. Heen Banda Weerasinghe Mudiyanselage and Mrs. Priyanthi Kanakaratna (2022 Parents of Outstanding Sacrifice).
The UPF awards ceremony featured photos of all the nominees and words from the recipients, as well as special messages from UPF leaders and National Parents’ Day co-founder, Hon. Dan Burton. He was one of two Congressmen who wrote and sponsored the Parents’ Day Resolution in the House of Representatives, which became law and established National Parents’ Day in 1994. It has since been annually celebrated every fourth Sunday of July.
“I’d like to thank and congratulate all of the parents who are being honored,” said Hon. Burton, co-chairman of UPF’s International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP). “These are very difficult times, and parents around America are facing very difficult problems. The folks being recognized today represent those parents who are trying to do the right thing for America and their families.”
Mr. Burton, who served in Congress from 1983 to 2013, noted that at the time there was only Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, with no day that celebrated parents. “Congressman Floyd Flake and I
introduced the draft [of the Parents’ Day Resolution] and we ended up with more than 200 co-sponsors,” he said. “It passed the House, it passed the Senate, and it was sent over to President Bill Clinton and he signed it into law in a very nice ceremony.”
Today, nearly 30 years later, Mr. Burton says National Parents’ Day is more important than ever. “The problems we face in America and around the world are huge problems growing every day,” he said. “It’s so critical that children get off on the right foot, and that means parents have to be very active and central in their lives. I think ... we need more parental guidance instead of less.”
He continued, “To all the parents around the country, thank you so much for what you do and your efforts to make sure your children grow up right. And thank you for your contributions to peace and freedom in America.”
Mr. Burton also said parental influence has been key in the longstanding work of UPF’s co-founders, Father and Mother Moon. “[They] have talked about parents their whole lives,” he said. “They have worked so hard to make sure families are together and working together. That is one of the cornerstones of what they do ... Mother Moon works so hard to make sure that families are secure and growing, and that parents are recognized.”
“Father and Mother Moon have dedicated their lives to realizing this dream for God so that humanity can enjoy loving families who honor and attend God as their Heavenly Parent,” shared Dr. Chong Sik Yong, FFWPU regional president of North America, in his remarks. “Father and Mother Moon asked that we continue to honor parents throughout the world, and continue to encourage parents to become beacons of light and love for their families and society.”
You can watch the full 2022 National Parents’ Day awards ceremony here.