FBI Awards Partners, Anti-Drug Activists and Difference Makers in the United States: NPR

Nearly two years ago, authorities arrested a 69-year-old man who allegedly plotted a mass shooting in a mosque in Jacksonville, Florida. Shauib Karim, who used to keep his distance from the FBI, said the incident had changed.

"We are all pretty negative about law enforcement and we do not interact with them much," said Karim.

But after the threat to his community, Karim enrolled in an FBI citizen's academy program – and he did not look back.

"This has completely changed my outlook," said Karim, a long-time volunteer at the Islamic Center in northeastern Florida. "I have learned that there are also people who do things for us and that we must react."

Now that this self-proclaimed introvert launches into public lectures, try to send this message: Cooperate with the police and federal law enforcement.

Karim is one of 60 people who traveled to Washington, DC on Friday to receive community leadership awards from FBI director Christopher Wray.

Recipients had varied experiences ranging from Holocaust educators to Crusaders against gangs and bullying, to dog trainers and forensic experts.

"Your mission is a commitment to serve your communities," said Wray. "You show kindness to the people who need it most, you defend those who need a voice, you make sure no one is left behind."

The FBI director said that although positive words are easy to tell others, "pontificating leadership is not really my style" – he said, reserving special respect for those who have worked, such as the winners of the community awards.

Wray followed a short recorded message from Dolly Parton, a country music icon, whose foundation has been recognized for its financial support to families suffering from the devastating wildfires in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

In her message, Parton said that she was honored to take part in the ceremony and closed by singing a replica of one of her legendary songs, "I'll always love you".

The fight against opioids

Nichole Dawsey, Executive Director of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Addiction in St. Louis, was also recognized. Over the last four years, the group has been broadcasting provocative ads during the local Super Bowl broadcast, warning that opioid use is "very real – it has significant impacts."

The goal was to try to break down all the other noises of the media environment of today, she said.

"We knew the country was at the heart of this huge opioid epidemic, but it seemed to us that no one was really paying attention to it and we felt like we were going around in circles," Dawsey said. . "So we wanted to create a public service announcement that did not really look like a public service announcement and that would really captivate people by setbacks and tell them:" Pay attention to what's going on because it's really a big deal. "

Dawsey said she was proud to say that the first commercials were "a real buzzkill" at the Super Bowl parties in the area.

More recent commercials have encouraged people to keep their prescription drugs, as they would with a gun or mobile phone while driving.

Adolescent drug use rates are low, said Dawsey, but the 25- to 45-year-olds "may not have understood the message yet".

"Whenever the work we do in St. Louis can be spotlighted on the national scene, it just draws attention to the fact that a lot of things are happening in the Midwest – and that a lot of things are really good, "she said. .