The Independence Hall Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, presented the prestigious DAR Americanism Award to the Rev. Samuel Murangi, rector of Emmanuel Resurrection Episcopal Church, 8201 Frankford Ave.
The presentation of a medal and certificate was made during the Sept. 8 service. Murangi, a native of Uganda, was joined by his wife Yvonne and daughters Hannah and Rebecca. The DAR gave Yvonne flowers.
“I’m profoundly honored and humbled to accept this award this morning,” he said.
The medal, given since 1958, is presented to a naturalized United States citizen who has shown outstanding qualities of leadership, trustworthiness, service and patriotism.
“I am proud to be an American,” he said, adding that he’d enlist in the military if he were younger.
The DAR was represented by, among others, Gail Cooper, Independence Hall Chapter Regent; Marguerite Hogan Fritsch, Pennsylvania State Regent; Mary Ann Cunningham, Americanism Committee State Chair; and Anne Peckham, Independence Hall Chapter.
Peckham nominated Murangi, and letters of recommendation were included.
“Rev. Murangi exemplifies the best in what immigrants bring to America. He is hard-working, patriotic and community-focused; an Episcopal priest here at Emmanuel Resurrection Church, he values personal integrity, self-improvement through education and addressing neighborhood issues by building a faith community,” Peckham told the congregation.
Peckham continued to describe why Murangi was chosen for the award.
By age 20, Murangi became assistant director of a foreign-funded orphanage in central Uganda. At 26, he left the orphanage to establish the nonprofit High Hope Development Foundation, to support widows and orphans in rural Western Uganda by educating fatherless children and training families to be self-sufficient by raising dairy cows.
In 1999, while pursuing his Master of Social Work and social research at Bryn Mawr College and living in a one-bedroom school dormitory, he founded High Hope International Mission, a nonprofit organization, to support his work in Uganda.
From 2007-10, he ran Together, We Can, an intervention-based after-school program for inner-city and immigrant youth in Philadelphia, offering tutoring, mentoring and enrichment activities for more than 40 teenagers.
Murangi has become the de facto leader for many refugees who arrive in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey from the East African countries of Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. He helped one family, in particular, escape domestic violence in Uganda to become American citizens.
Since Murangi’s arrival at Emmanuel Resurrection Church, he has increased Sunday school and adult attendance by 100 percent each. He has secured funding of more than $500,000 to:
• Renovate an old and aging building and turn it into a modern and desirable daycare space
• Establish an outdoor recreational place for children who didn’t have one
• Install a new heating and cooling system in the sanctuary
• Install new windows for the conference hall
• Renovate the basement for church school and a youth group
• Install a digital sign for the church
• Repave the two parking lots
• Repair sidewalks
In addition to his leadership in the Northeast, Murangi continues his work in Uganda, helping youth to further their education and constructing church buildings.
In 2020, at the height of the pandemic, he secured a grant of $150,000 to ship six containers of medical equipment to Uganda. He and his family donated truckloads of food and support that helped furloughed workers, and he launched a campaign for food supplies to sustain refugees on the Uganda/Congo border who were affected by intense flooding during the pandemic.
Murangi also raised $15,000 to build a house for a widow and her six children who were homeless through no fault of their own.
Peckham said Murangi has a “heart of gold” and a “can-do attitude.”
Murangi thanked Peckham for nominating him. He also thanked the team at the church, including the Sunset with God prayer group.
Murangi described the award as not a personal achievement, but “a celebration of teamwork.” ••
