DISTINGUISHED COMMUNITY SERVICE

The organizers of the Ellis Island Honor say that the medals are awarded to those distinguished American citizens that exemplify a life dedicated to community service. Certainly Kumar’s life has been dedicated such. Incredibly enough he has put in over 100,000 hours of volunteer work—that equals about 4100 days, or 11 years in actual time. You can count on your finger tips the number of people that have done this. One of the areas in which he decided to volunteer was with those who have Traumatic Brain Injury and their family members whose lives are also traumatized. Because of his unwavering focus and application in this area, the Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1996 was passed by the U.S. Congress, and Kumar was recognized for Unheralded Advocacy for his work with victims of brain injury. He has been a recipient of the Outstanding Achievement Award at the International Brain Injury Association (IBIA) World Congress in Stockholm, Sweden. He has also been bestowed with recognitions from the Arizona Brain Injury Association, Arizona Governor’s Council on Spinal and Head Injury. Kumar was honored with the Lifetime Achievement for Outstanding Public Service by the US Indian American Chamber of Commerce.

Several key appointments in the area of brain injury have come his way. He has twice been appointed by the Governor of Arizona to serve as a Member of Arizona Governor’s Council on Spinal and Head Injuries, and again twice as Member of the Arizona State Rehabilitation Council. He has also been Member of the Executive Board and Vice President, Arizona Brain Injury Association and a Member of the Board of Governors and Vice President for Survivor Affairs at the International Brain Injury Association.