Good evening everyone and thank you for that wonderful introduction.

As Michael Vick, our Falcons quarterback, said when he was inducted into the Boys & Girl’s Club hall of fame a couple of months ago:

"This is big. This is really big."

I'm truly humbled by your kind words and tribute, and by The Wiesenthal Center’s honoring me with this award tonight.

2004 Humanitarian Laureate Arthur Blank and Cartier International CEO Gerard Djaoui, recipient of the Wiesenthal Center's International Leadership Award

I'm equally honored to share this evening with Gerard Djaoui, with Rabbi Hier, and Larry Mizel - men who are doing so much to promote tolerance and understanding in the world.

They’re shining examples of what’s good in life, and their work reminds us of what we can achieve - together - when we commit ourselves to improving the quality of life for all people.

I’m particularly proud to share this evening with some very special members of my family:

My wife, Stephanie, who is an inspiration to me and a generous and steadfast partner in every facet of my life - particularly in the work we do in the community, both personally and through our Family Foundation.

Trust me, folks - it's not all about me. Stephanie's as involved and as passionate as I am in leading our community efforts, and she believes strongly in the work we're doing. This award is every bit hers as it is mine.

Seated with Stephanie are my mother, Molly Blank, and her husband, Wayne Mitsch. Tonight, my mom is exactly where she’s always been throughout my life - right at the center of everything I have ever hoped to achieve... and all that I’ve ever aspired to be.

Mom, I'm not sure whether you'll consider this a statement of credit or blame, but you’ve done more than anyone else in my life to shape and support the person I am today. Thank you for all you’ve given me through the years.

I am also so pleased to have my eldest son, Kenny, and his wife Nancy with me here. I’m so proud of them - the work they do in their lives, and their outstanding contributions to our foundation.

Our foundation truly is a family enterprise. My wife and my three older children - Kenny, Dena and Danielle - are trustees, and my brother Michael and daughter-in-law Nancy are board associates.

They each bring a unique wisdom, passion and energy to the work we do, and I’m incredibly fortunate to have them by my side.

There are two other talented people I’d like to quickly recognize:

Penny McPhee, our terrific new foundation president, and Elise Eplan, our foundation vice president who's been with us since the early days ­ back when our foundation was nothing more than a couple of closet-sized rooms tucked away in a forgotten corner of the Home Depot headquarters building.

It's people like Penny and Elise, and our Foundation staff in Atlanta who do the "heavy lifting." They turn good intentions into real results in the community. We're lucky to have them.

And finally, to everyone here tonight, and others who have given so generously to make this night possible, let me say how gratified I am to be in the company of such an outstanding community of support.

There is no better tribute than to have such wonderful partners.

A long time ago - in a borough of New York not too far away - I learned important life lessons that are still - to this very day - etched in my mind.

Growing up in Queens, my mother and father taught me that we are called to be our brother’s keeper.

My mother still tells me that everything we strive to do in life is a gift.

It's our responsibility to share that gift, and to give back what we can to the world.

Jewish tradition calls this Tikkun Olam - "repairing the world."

Through my family, I learned what was truly important in life:

Putting people first.
Leading through service.
And giving back to others.

I also learned a lot about resilience. How to be tough through adversity. "Turning lemons into lemonade," - as my mother likes to say.

In the video, you heard my mother say the hardest thing I had to overcome growing up was the loss of my father, who died when I was 15 years old.

I've always wondered how it is that she - a very young woman - was able to survive that devastating loss.

But she did.

She not only survived, she ultimately turned her life into a wonderful model of success.

To this day, I still try to understand exactly what makes so many people around the world able to bounce back and overcome such enormous odds.

How is it that we find strength under such trying circumstances? What is it that makes us shine so brightly when the times are darkest?

I think we have some kind of "resiliency factor" inside us.

Each of us has, locked within our being, some hidden capacity to improve... to excel... and to achieve more than we ever thought possible.

But we need a positive life force to awaken it.

At so many critical points in our life’s journey, we’re tested.

That’s when we need that catalyst - that spark - some person or persons to push us in the right direction.

For me, that person was my mother.

I'm the beneficiary of her resilience. I grew - and got stronger - because on that day some 47 years ago - on the morning after my father died - my mother somehow found the strength to move on with her life.

For a group of children locked away in a German concentration camp during World War II, their spark was a remarkable young woman named Freidl Dicker-Brandeis.

Freidl wasn't out to save the world. She wasn't even out to save those children. But through art, she knew she could give them escape.

She was determined to do it, whatever the cost.

She had the resiliency factor.

By taking those children under her wing... by risking her life so that theirs could have some small measure of dignity and joy... she made them stronger.

Through her art and her teaching, she lifted those children from a life filled with unspeakable atrocities and - for a brief moment in time - transported them to a better place… A place where they could rise above the deadening horrors, and instead create the beautiful and moving works of art we enjoy to this very day.

Through a sheer determination of will, she awakened in those children a spirit of achievement - even as they were in their darkest hour.

It's an incredibly moving story. But it doesn’t end there.

It began anew some three decades later, when another resilient young woman - Regina Seidman Miller - set out to share Friedl’s art and life story with the world.

She was relentless. She was tireless. She was determined.

Frankly, no one gave her much chance of succeeding.

My family heard her story and just couldn’t say no.

Thanks to Regina's work, a whole new generation is being inspired by Freidl's story and her art.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is that spirit of resilience that we honor tonight.

My greatest satisfaction comes from knowing that the work my family does through our Foundation can touch lives. It’s knowing that we might spark others to achieve… to excel… to rise to a place they never thought possible.

We can be that spark for others. All of us can. We can help them grow stronger, more resilient.

Each of us here tonight can be a positive catalyst for change.

As Ghandi told us: "We must be the change we wish to see in the world."

My mother is right. Everything we do in life is a gift.

It's our responsibility to share that gift, and to give back what we can to the world.

You honor me with this award tonight. But the best tribute I could possibly imagine would be to leave here knowing that all of us -- whatever our station in life -- know that we truly can be a guiding light for others.

Let's recommit ourselves to touching lives... and improving them.

If we do that... if we pursue it with the same spirit and energy that Friedl showed us... there's no limit to what we can achieve.

Thank you for this night, and for this wonderful honor.