The East Cobb Civitan Club has chosen Chris Brand as the winner of its Civitan International Servant’s Heart Award.
Since 2003, Brand has served as the president and CEO of Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) based in Stone Mountain, leading FODAC’s mission to enhance the quality of life for hundreds of thousands of individuals and families with disabilities.
Brand has guided FODAC through tremendous growth in size and scope to become the nation’s largest provider of low to no-cost refurbished home medical equipment, according to a Civitan statement.
He developed his interest in helping people with disabilities when he became friends for 19 years with a young man who had Muscular Dystrophy until his friend’s passing in 1987.
His friend’s death affected Brand deeply, establishing his life-long interest to help those in need.
The Servant’s Heart Award, a program of Civitan International, seeks to recognize and honor unsung heroes from the nonprofit, local government, public education and other sectors who have dedicated their lives in service to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Other finalists, who were nominated for this year’s award, were Jim Hamm, founder of Special Populations Tennis, and Renate’ Elliott, Accessibility Services supervisor for the Cobb County Public Library System.
Civitan International is a global organization impacting lives at the grassroots level through local service clubs such as 40 in Georgia, including Camp Big Heart, a service club dedicated to providing inclusive overnight camping for those with developmental and intellectual disabilities.
