Philanthropist, arts patroness, veteran’s activist and Hamptons visitor Dame Patricia J. Kennedy (founder of Step Up 4 Vets), Long Island Congressman Peter King (Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterintelligence & Terrorism) and a group of other prominent Americans will receive the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations‘ (NECO) highest honor, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, at a ceremony on historic Ellis Island.
Among the more than 90 other outstanding Americans who will be honored along with Kennedy  and King are US Surgeon General Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, legendary recording artist Dionne Warwick, CNN correspondent Alina Cho, actors Mia Farrow and Danny Masterson, Thomas Sherak (head of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences), philanthropist and entrepreneur David Merage, retired NFL Coach Richard “Dick” Vermeil and Steve Silks, Deputy Chief, NYPD.
Past Medalists include six US presidents, Nobel Prize winners and leaders of industry, education, the arts, sports and government, including Bob Hope, Renee Fleming, Tony Blair, Michael Bolton, Joe DiMaggio and Bill and Hillary Clinton.
NECO sponsors the Ellis Island Medals of Honor which are presented annually to American citizens who have distinguished themselves within their own ethnic groups while exemplifying the values of the American way of life.
