4 heroes honored for the Freedom Festival’s 40th anniversary

CEDAR RAPIDS — The annual Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival is honoring four heroes in the community for its 40th anniversary.

Marnie Schultz, event and marketing coordinator for the Freedom Festival, said the four heroes were selected by the Freedom Festival board for the impact each has on the people they interact with.

“We are looking for whoever’s just going above and beyond and making a difference in somebody’s world,” Schultz said. “It doesn’t have to be an overall with the community, but somebody that just is deserving of the title ‘hero.’”

Barb Westercamp, Richard Bice, Howard Purdy and Jessica Camacho are being honored as the 2023 heroes.

This year’s Tribute to Heroes Dinner takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, June 15 at The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. Individual seats are $60 or $550 for a table of 10. Tickets can be purchased directly at the Freedom Festival website.

Schultz said the dinner provides a unique opportunity for these individuals to take a moment in the limelight when they are often working “behind the scenes.”

“It's really great to recognize the people that you might not have heard of and make sure that they get the recognition that they deserve,” he said. “We’re happy to shout their accomplishments to the rooftops, and it’s nice for the families to have an outlet to be able to do that and to be able to recognize their friends and family through this Tribute Heroes Dinner.”

Richard Bice

  Buy Photo

Richard Bice is being recognized for this immense time and effort to his community, including the Alzheimer’s Association, Marion School Board, the local SCORE chapter and the Methodist Church.

Over the past several years, Bice has been deeply involved in the Alzheimer's Association. He was named the Alzheimer's Association Advocate of the Year after being selected by the East Central Iowa and Greater Iowa Chapter in 2017.

Bice said his involvement with the group started when his wife was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The two decided to move into a retirement home once she was diagnosed, and Bice said he “would just commit myself 100 percent and will take care of her 24/7.”

“I wanted to help her, and I want to help us and the other people that I can,” Bice said.

Bice also serves as marketing director for the local SCORE chapter, an organization that supports local businesses and entrepreneurs as they look to pursue and expand their careers.

“There’s no joy greater than watching someone else be very successful with the ideas that they’ve tried,” Bice said.

Bice said his desire to serve comes from his own personal goals regarding what he wants out of life.

“I decided that I was going to make a commitment to help everyone that I can help have a more complete life in their realm of understanding and abilities,” Bice said.

Barb Westercamp

  Buy Photo

Barb Westercamp has dedicated 34 years to the Cedar Rapids Community School District promoting literacy and supporting students as an educator. Westercamp said that over the past 50 years, she has personally purchased and gifted more than 100,000 new books to students as part of her passion for reading.

“I used to always tell my kids that a book is a treasure you can open again and again,” she said.

Westercamp said her dedication to literacy comes from her belief that reading can open a lot of doors for individuals. She participates in and donates to the Read Across America program.

“It gives you the tools for the future,” Westercamp said. “It just makes your world a bigger and wider place.”

Westercamp continues to serve students through various programs. Over the years, she has donated around 600 new bags filled with school supplies to students. She stressed the importance of the bags and supplies being new, as she said students put more “value and ownership” into the gifts.

Westercamp said the work she does is inspired by her mother, who was a World War II army nurse. She said her mother instilled the importance of volunteering and service into her at a young age, and that mentality has followed her ever since.

Following her motto “See the good and be the good,” Westercamp promotes positivity and giving a helping hand to those around her.

“I want to focus on the positive every day,” she said. “You've got to make a difference to make the world better.”

Jessica Camacho

  Buy Photo

Jessica Camacho is a civil rights investigator with the Civil Rights Commission in Cedar Rapids, investigating discrimination and civil rights complaints within the city.

Before her time as an investigator, Camacho advocated for equity in the Cedar Rapids schools teaching students who spoke limited English in the schools English Language Learners program.

“So with a population that does not feel as connected to the schools, I often thought it was best to be able to go into the community, to their churches, and into their homes — to be able to help them find a connection to the schools, and work with them,” Camacho said.

During her time at the Cedar Rapids Schools working with children from refugees and Black youth she saw a need for equity in the city. Camacho decided to be the change she knew the city needed and to fight for equity through continued advocacy.

“I would go into situations, for example, in their homes, and I would see that maybe the landlords weren't giving them the treatment that they deserved as citizens,” Camacho said. “For example, being able to live in a home that was free of insects or a home where there weren’t unfinished repairs. I saw that those citizens were being treated differently than the citizens that I would see that were not necessarily refugees.”

Camacho continues to work for Cedar Rapids youth as a civil rights investigator. In partnership with the University of Iowa law clinic she has lectured at area middle and high schools to teach students their rights when stopped by a police officer.

“As a middle school teacher, I had many, many students who had encounters with law enforcement agents, and some of them were positive, and some of them were negative,” Camacho said. “And so I thought it was really important for them to actually understand their rights as citizens when it came to their rights around law enforcement agents.”

Camacho was shocked to hear that she was named one of the four heroes for the 2023 Freedom Festival but she hopes to use the role to bring attention to the need for equity and fairness in the community.

“Being nominated was a shock — when I look at all the people, other people that necessarily that would deserve it,” she said. “And I plan on using this as a platform to just make sure that people really understand the adversity that a lot of our teens in this area are going through and in ways that we can help support our community.”

Howard Purdy

  Buy Photo

Howard Purdy, a local veteran and longtime Cedar Rapids resident, dedicates his free time volunteering through Toys for Tots and the Eastern Iowa Honor Flight.

Purdy has volunteered for Cedar Rapids Toys for Tots through the Iowa Marine Corps League for years, citing a desire to help others.

“I get to see the people that come through and pick up toys and some just cry because they’re so thankful to get them, otherwise their child’s not going to get a toy,” Purdy. “And I feel it is really an important deal. When I grew up we didn’t have much, so I know what they’re going through.”

Purdy also collects donations for Toys for Tots by standing outside Hy-Vee stores in the Cedar Rapids area handing out miniature flags while in uniform.

“I feel great when a child comes up to me, and I give him or her a flag,” Purdy said. “And they stand there and I say, ‘Make sure you wave it going through the store’ and they'll come out and they’re showing me they're still waving it. That makes me happy — because for a while nobody respected the flag, and I think that we’re getting back to that now.”

Comments: liam.halawith@thegazette.com; jami.martin-trainor@thegazette.com