Michael Simning Award Ceremony

Michael Simning Community Builder Award: Al Barnum

Written By Nancy Harcar

Photographed by Martin Miller and Joey Nunez

On Saturday, June 13, Gwangju honored Al Barnum, the first recipient of the Michael Simning Community Builder Award, during the GIC Talk at the Gwangju International Center downtown. Al was nominated for his work in establishing the Adopt a Child for Christmas program, which he started several years ago to benefit the girls at Sungbin Orphanage.

Michael Simning was a Canadian expat who became a business owner, a volunteer, a community builder, a husband, a father and a friend to many in Gwangju. His loss in 2014 left a big hole in the hearts of many, and big shoes to fill. The award was created to remember him for his community and volunteer work in the city of Gwangju. This award is to recognize those who carry on his legacy of doing work for the public good, and to encourage others to get involved in the Gwangju community and continue Mike’s legacy.

The award selection committee chose Al Barnum as the recipient because of the long lasting and far-reaching impact of the Adopt a Child for Christmas program. Al had been a volunteer at Sungbin with Mike Simning for a variety of events and English tutoring sessions. When the Christmas season was approaching, he thought it would be a nice idea for the girls at Sungbin to have some presents to open at Christmastime. With the help of friends, he was able to create a Facebook group to help other foreigners sign up to get names of orphans to buy presents for, and the program took off from there.

Although in later years Al would hand over administration of the program to others, the program has continued to grow. In the first year of the program, 55 children at Sungbin received presents. Last Christmas, over 700 children in multiple orphanages around Gwangju benefitted from the program. It truly has become a long-lasting organization with a community-wide impact.

One need only look at the names of several of the other nominees for the award to see the impact of the program. Finalists Jordan Vanhartingsfeldt, Calen Cygan, and Sunjin Choi were all nominated because of their work for the Adopt a Child for Christmas program. They expanded the program to include more children at more orphanages around the city, and also directed many different fundraisers to make it happen. Finalist Lianne Bronzo has participated in several volunteer organizations in Gwangju, and says she was inspired to create her own organization, Gwangju Freecycle and its swap events, by the creativity and activism she saw modeled in our community.

Other nominees included Brian Burgoyne, for his volunteer work for various charity fundraisers over the years; Kim Young-im, for her work with the UNESCO KONA Storybook Center; Jen Lee, for her work on the Gwangju Blog and volunteerism for various charity organizations throughout the years; and David Shaffer, for his work with the KOTESOL organization.

All the nominees were honored at the ceremony with certificates for their work for the Gwangju community. In addition, the finalists were given handmade Hawaiian shirts, in honor of one of Mike’s Simning’s favorite fashion choices. The recipient, Al Barnum, was also presented with an appreciation gift of 200,000 won, and a matching gift of 200,000 won was presented to the Gwangju charity of his choice, Haein Temple.