Beloved Hallmark star Holly Robinson Peete and her husband, former NFL quarterback Rodney Peete, are being recognized in October with a prestigious honor for their philanthropic work with their organization, The HollyRod Foundation.
The Rotary Club of Los Angeles has chosen the Peetes as the 2025 recipients of its Good Sam Award, named after author Dete Meserve's novel and the 2019 Netflix film adaptation Good Sam, which follows the events surrounding an anonymous Good Samaritan who leaves money on seemingly random doorsteps.
Meserve was the first recipient of the Good Sam Award, and she will be on hand at the October 24 ceremony to award this year's honor to the Peetes.
The Good Sam Award honors "community leaders who demonstrate bold leadership in advancing human kindness, understanding, and compassion."
The Peetes have turned their family's toughest challenges into a mission to help others. Inspired by Holly's father, Matthew Robinson - the original Gordon on Sesame Street - who battled Parkinson's disease, and by their son RJ's autism diagnosis at age three, the couple launched the HollyRod Foundation. Today, the organization is dedicated to raising awareness and offering resources for families navigating autism and Parkinson's.
"Service Above Self is one of the guiding tenets of Rotary International, and the Good Sam Award honors individuals who have lived that ideal through their words and their deeds," said Paul Jacques, president of the Rotary Club of Los Angeles, in a statement. "Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson Peete are shining examples of Service Above Self, and we are honored and grateful to celebrate their efforts to create a more open, inclusive, and compassionate world for those living with autism and Parkinson's."
"I wouldn't change my son for the world, but I would change the world for my son" is Robinson Peete's philosophy, which encapsulates the Good Sam Award's mission of using personal experiences to guide global service to help others.
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