Remarks from the acceptance of the Quad Cities (Webster Groves, Rock Hill, Shrewsbury, Brentwood) Chamber of Commerce “Humanitarian of the Year” award on April 17, 2026

“Author Lewis Carroll once said:  ‘One of the secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others.’  I believe that is a good definition of a ‘Humanitarian’.  

I have a message for everyone here tonight.  That message is this:   We can ALL be humanitarians.  We can ALL help our kids, our schools, our neighbors, and our community to be better than we now are. I encourage ALL of us to BEHumanitarians.

In a class I taught for 20 years at Washington University I tried to get across to students the concept of the difference between an ‘outcome’ and an ‘objective’.  For example, when I co-started a small business, it was not my objective to ‘make money’.   It was my objective to provide a service that people would find valuable.  If I did well with thisobjective, one outcome, as evaluated by the marketplace, would be that I would make money.  This attitude and distinction was important to the ultimate success of our business.

Regarding this award from the Chamber, I did not seek nor set as an objective to receive this recognition.  My objective was simply to help immigrant families who needed help and to provide new educational opportunities for the kids in our schools –- as described just now by Webster School Superintendent Dr. Jana Parker.  As an outcome of my work, the Chamber has seen fit to present me with this humanitarian award.  

To have as an objective to be given an award – say, for example, if someone set as an objective to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize – that would be purely a self-serving, ego driven effort focused on one’s own self-aggrandizement, rather than a sincere effort to help people. I, as an individual, and I would hope that we as a community, reject such blatant condescension and arrogance – particularly at the highest levels of our government.

I humbly – and that is an important word, missing elsewhere – I humbly thank the Chamber for this recognition.  I encourage ALL of us to help those in our community who need help and to bring creativity, energy and enthusiasm to the education of our children.  That is how we will become a better community and a better country.  Thank you.”

Glenn Detrick
Founder of the Chelsea Center 
at Webster Groves High School