8月4日，美国总统奥巴马在白宫亲自向关惠群等13名爱心人士颁发了2010年度的总统“公民奖章”。 总统公民奖章是仅次于总统自由勋章的美国第二高平民荣誉，用于表彰有模范服务事迹的美国公民，今年首次改由民众公开推荐本社区的候选人。

       每天清晨，关惠群便准备好食物和饮料，分发给镇上的无家可归者。她还利用给他们送早餐机会和他们聊天，了解他们的需要。当做完这一切，她还要回家为附近街道大约两百个无家可归者准备晚餐。这样的善举一天两次，她坚持了整整24年。

       关惠群等13名获奖者是从6000名优秀候选人中脱颖而出，据称是由奥巴马亲自选定的。华裔获得总统公民奖章的人并不多，上一次获得该奖项的是华裔医学家何大一。关惠群在领奖后接受媒体采访时表示，她为自己作为华裔能够领取该奖项而感到自豪。

    Betty Chinn stood on a stage in the East Room of the White House on August 4 as President Barack Obama presented her and 12 others with the Presidential Citizens Medal -- the second-highest civilian honor in the United States.

    “I can’t believe it,” said Ms. Chinn as she stared at her medal, a disc of gilt and enamel emblazoned with the presidential seal on the front and her name on the back.

    Selfless devotion

    Ms. Chinn was born in China and later come to America. She arrived in Eureka, California, where she met her husband and had two sons.      

    What Ms. Chinn has done for over 20 years is wake up every day, load up her truck and go in search of those who need food, a blanket or simply human contact. Rain or shine, holidays and weekends, Ms. Chinn finds lost souls and reminds them that they are part of a human family.

    Every morning before dawn, she loads up her catering truck with an urn of hot coffee, piles of doughnuts and heads out to make her deliveries. Hers is a special clientele -- the homeless, the disenfranchised and the forgotten. They are often mentally ill, substance abusers, teenage runaways or veterans. They live under the railroad, under bridges or in the bushes.

    As she feeds them breakfast, Ms. Chinn talks to them and finds out what their particular need may be for the day. If they have to call a parent to let them know they are alive, she arranges a phone card. If they need to wash clothes, she gets them a voucher for the local laundromat. 

    If they need clothes or a blanket or a tent, she will find someone to donate the items. If they are veterans, she tries to arrange for them to get benefits. If they want a shower, she will drive them to the apartment of friends who will let them shower. If the weather is particularly extreme, she will ask friends to donate a motel room to get a mother and her children out of the storm.

    After she does all that, she goes back home and turns her kitchen into a staging area for the real work of the day -- feeding dinner to roughly 200 people on the streets. Her husband, a retired physics professor, loads the containers into the catering truck, and off she goes, taking hot food to those who would otherwise go without nourishment for either body or soul. This is what she has done almost every day, twice a day, for over twenty years.

    Presidential Citizens Medal

    Created in 1969 by President Richard Nixon, the Presidential Citizens Medal has been bestowed annually by presidents. While U.S. senators have traditionally nominated citizens from their state for the award, Mr. Obama announced earlier this year that he would create a public nomination process and called on ordinary citizens to nominate people in their community. 

    Ms. Chinn was joined in receiving the award by a dozen people from across America. There was Daisy Brooks of Chicago, who has committed much of her life to helping young mothers and infants; Elizabeth Cushman Titus Putnam, who has devoted much of her life to preserving America's public lands; and Myrtle Fye Rumph, who lost her son 20 years ago but has since worked to give at-risk youths a safe harbor from gang activity. Four of the honorees -- including Ms. Chinn -- received the medal for their work to feed the homeless and less fortunate.