Global Reach Announces Annual "Heart of a Patriot Award" Memorializing the Life and Achievement of Bill Richardson

Newly consolidated non-profit will carry Richardson's heroic initiatives and programs forward on international platform

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of the life and achievement of former Governor of New Mexico, US Ambassador, US Secretary of Energy, and US presidential candidate Bill Richardson (1947 - 2023), Steve Menzies, founder and chairman of Global Reach, has announced the establishment of the "Bill Richardson Heart of a Patriot Award" to be presented annually during the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation dinner in Washington, DC, beginning in 2025. The award recognizes an individual whose actions after leaving public service result in the freeing of Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage—a mission set and realized successfully by Bill Richardson following his active years in government service. The Bill Richardson Center for Global Engagement, now consolidated into Global Reach, continues the advocacy and action agenda for families of innocent victims of terror, extortion or other illegal sequestrations, led by Mr. Menzies and Mr. Mickey Bergman, who headed the Center under the late Governor's aegis.

"Bill Richardson provided both an example of patriotic service to fellow citizens and a roadmap for what might best be termed 'heroic public diplomacy' to be symbolized by this award and sustained through Global Reach," said Steve Menzies, who was a collaborator with Governor Richardson in several rescue missions. "Our agenda is substantial, as is our role as private individuals in compassionate service. Our resource needs are critical, but we have vowed to continue Bill's work and hope to inspire other leaders like him to join us. That inspiration is one motive for this award. Another is to present our unique narrative and our availability to intervene for citizens and families in dire need of help in rescuing family members from harm's way. Our overriding motive is to honor a great American in perpetuity."

Mr. Mickey Bergman, longtime partner and former principal executive of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, and now CEO of Global Reach, observed that Bill Richardson's example should serve as a paradigm for governmental, corporate, and philanthropic leaders: "The approach that Governor Richardson espoused was direct, carefully focused on the delivery of our fellow citizens to their homes, no matter how intransigent, menacing, or unreasonable the demands of hostage takers or others acting wrongfully. In Governor Richardson, they found a determined fighter with a strong team and dependable resources, all aggregated toward reaching his goals. Today with our incredibly dedicated team in the US and in key locations around the world, we continue the mission tenaciously to deliver results. We hope the Heart of a Patriot Award will inspire others formerly in positions of power to do what they can to help those in need of help."

Mrs. Barbara Richardson, widow of the late Governor, expressed great appreciation for the award named for her late husband: "For more than a decade, under the auspices of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement, Bill and his partner Mickey Bergman traversed the globe. Many Americans today owe their freedom, their very lives, to these two men. Bill Richardson chose to take a stand, he chose to make a difference. His mission fulfilled, his legacy will live on in those who continue this humanitarian work."

About Global Reach (www.reach.global)

Global Reach, a 501(c)(3) organization, represents and works on behalf of the families of victims held hostage or otherwise wrongfully detained outside the US, at no cost to them. Global Reach is funded by concerned private citizens who are committed to the mission and want to do what they can to help innocent Americans. It does not accept money or any form of donation from the families served or from returned detainees. Global Reach also does not accept grants or donations from the US or foreign governments.

SOURCE Global Reach