Glenn, Hakey Named Recipients of Operation Lifesaver 2010 National Safety Awards
BALTIMORE, Maryland, August 30, 2010 – Railroad safety nonprofit Operation Lifesaver (OL) today gave national safety awards highlighting individual achievements in preventing deaths and injuries around tracks and trains to Mike Glenn of Snellville, Georgia and Sergeant First Class Brian Hakey of Southport, NC. Glenn received the OL Champion Award for incorporating rail safety education into a youth sports program for the hearing-impaired and in national speaking engagements; Hakey received the F. Tom Roberts Memorial Volunteer Award for expanding the OL program in Southeast North Carolina and making OL’s lifesaving messages available to all branches of the military. The awards were presented at a dinner during the 16th Operation Lifesaver Symposium and Training Seminars here.
“We are proud to present these prestigious awards to Mike Glenn and Brian Hakey, honoring them for their dedication to saving lives through these unique activities on behalf of Operation Lifesaver,” said Operation Lifesaver, Inc. President Helen M. Sramek. “These individuals truly exemplify the passion and creativity of our volunteers and partners.”
Mike “Stinger” Glenn is a former NBA player and television sports analyst who incorporates Operation Lifesaver’s rail safety education message in his annual basketball camps for hearing-challenged athletes, offered free of charge to deaf athletes across the country. Glenn not only advocates traffic safety – including railroad safety – within the “hearing” community, he serves as a special ambassador/advocate for the deaf, and is a celebrity spokesman for Operation Lifesaver in Georgia. He includes OL’s life-saving messages in speaking engagements throughout the country, reminding his audiences to buckle up, drive safely and yield to trains.
Brian Hakey, a certified Operation Lifesaver presenter since 1998, is also a certified Grade Crossing Collision Investigation instructor and the area coordinator for the Southeast section of North Carolina. Since relocating to North Carolina’s Wilmington area in 2005, Brian has quadrupled the number of certified presenters in the area, reaching thousands of area residents each year; in addition, he has increased awareness of safety around train tracks throughout the armed forces through Army Knowledge On-Line, a web-based collaboration site in the U.S. Department of Defense network. Hakey will soon carry the OL safety message to Afghanistan, his next deployment.
Honorable mentions for the OL Champion Award were also presented at the dinner, to Don Matlock of Hamilton, MT, Sandy Brown of Casa Grande, AZ, and Captain Jim Kveton of Elmhurst, IL, for their efforts on behalf of Operation Lifesaver.
Established this year to recognize people inside or outside of the Operation Lifesaver program who advance OL’s community safety goals, the OL Champion Award honors an individual who through their work has contributed significantly to the mission of Operation Lifesaver in the past two years, in any of the three “E” components of rail safety: education, enforcement or engineering.
Started in 1994 in memory of a man who dedicated the majority of his life to reducing or eliminating death and injuries along railroad tracks, the F. Tom Roberts Memorial Award honors an individual who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to safety in the number of volunteer hours committed to Operation Lifesaver annually, the nature of volunteer activities performed, and other personal contributions to the Operation Lifesaver program.
About Operation Lifesaver
Operation Lifesaver's mission is to end collisions, deaths and injuries at highway-rail grade crossings and along railroad rights of way. A national network of volunteers provides free presentations on rail safety. For more information or to request a free safety presentation, visit
