Eunice Kennedy Shriver

This is a picture of Eunice Kennedy Shriver. (http://scrink.com/blog/tvmov/uploaded_images/MinervaimageTop0013shriver2-729602.jpg)

Anyone can be a hero if they try. My hero is Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She certainly tried hard to be a hero and she succeeded. But not only did she try to be a hero, she also helped other people become heroes too.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in 1921. She was the fifth of nine children of Joseph P. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy. One of her many siblings was Rosemary, who had a mental disability. Eunice was very touched by her sister’s disability and sympathetic of the way people treated her. Eunice truly changed the way people look at those with disabilities and that’s why she’s my hero. I feel like I can really relate to Eunice. I also feel pain when a person laughs at someone who is mentally impaired or when I really think about the struggle they’re going through. It makes me realize how incredibly lucky I am. I think that’s what Eunice realized too, and she wanted to make a difference.

Eunice was truly inspired by her sister Rosemary. People would turn their backs to the mentally impaired or retarded. They thought that all that they could do was lie in bed all day. But Eunice knew that they were wrong as she watched Rosemary grow up and do amazing things.

In 1961 Eunice took over the direction of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation. This organization has two main objectives. The first one is to seek the prevention of intellectual disabilities by identifying the causes. The second objective is to improve the means by which society deals with people who have intellectual disabilities. Under Shriver’s leadership the foundation accomplished many great things, like the establishment of The President’s Committee on Mental Retardation, the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the creation of major centers of medical ethics at Harvard and Georgetown Universities. But one of the most important creations was the Special Olympics.

This is one of the Special Olympics logos. (http://pherf.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/special-olympics-logo.png)

Eunice changed the way people look at those who are mentally challenged. She helped them really believe in themselves. Eunice Kennedy Shriver was a leader in the struggle to improve and enhance the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Eunice passed away August 11th 200, but the memory of her will be alive forever.

Sources

1. “Eunice Kennedy Shriver.” Eunicekennedyshriver.org. Special Olympics. 2009. 14 October 2009 http://www.eunicekennedyshriver.org/bios/eks.

2.“Eunice Kennedy Shriver.” Wikipedia.org. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 2009. October 28 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eunice_Kennedy_Shriver

3. "Eunice Mary Shriver." Notable Sports Figures. 4 vols. Gale, 2004. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. October 28 2009.