The Kids’ Chance of America Distinguished Service Award will be presented annually to a member of the national Kids’ Chance community who has gone above and beyond in the service of our most important legacy: our kids.The Distinguished Service Award will be presented to an individual or organization that

• Embodies the passion for helping children, impacted by a parent’s workers’ compensation injury or death, secure the financial assistance needed to advance their education as epitomized by founder, Bob Clyatt;
• Supports the Kids' Chance mission in their everyday personal and professional life;
• Connects members of the Kids' Chance community across the country to improve our collective impact and;
• Infuses uncompromising integrity into everything they do.

The Distinguished Service Award will be presented each year at the Kids’ Chance of America Annual Meeting, the largest gathering of the Kids’ Chance community. The Award will be in the form of a framed “diploma” from Kids’ Chance of America.In this our inaugural year, we could not be more humbled to present this award to the man who inspired it all: Bob Clyatt. Bob founded the first Kids’ Chance organization in Valdosta, Georgia in 1988. Through his work, he has witnessed the life-shattering impact that a serious workplace injury could have on the children of seriously or fatally injured workers, especially financially, often leaving these children with little hope of advancing their education on the college or vocational level.As we celebrate ten years of amazing growth nationally, and almost thirty years since the first state organization was established, Bob’s continued and unrelenting commitment to our mission deserves recognition and his service the denotation of Summa Cum Laude. Going forward, the award will be named the Robert M. Clyatt Distinguished Service Award.