At its annual Freedom Celebration Friday evening, May 9, in Boise, the Idaho Freedom Foundation (IFF) presented a number of awards to individuals who have advanced the causes of liberty and freedom during the past year.

IFF recognized 23 individuals for their contributions in those areas.

For their work on behalf of opposing Common Core the Education Award went to Stephanie Zimmerman, Stacey Knudsen, Mila Wood, Mary Adler, Rome Saranto and Valerie Candelaria.

The Patriot Award for their grassroots work in bringing liberty organizations together: Bob Neugebauer, Steve Ackerman and Russ Smerz.

Legislators face a challenging task in fighting Big Government and statism. To that end, each year IFF gives the top 10 percent of the House and Senate its Friend of Freedom Award. This year’s recipients were Steven Harris, Ron Mendive, Shannon McMillan, Vito Barbieri, Paul E. Shepherd, Lenore Hardy Barrett, Judy Boyle, Kathleen Sims, Sheryl Nuxoll, Steve Vick and Monty Pearce.

One of IFF’s first employees when the organization was formed in 2009 was Erik Makrush, who recently left the organization to continue fighting for liberty and freedom with a freedom-values group in Florida. Makrush led the charge for IFF’s AccountableIdaho.com website, processing and entering thousands of data points and collecting public records from all across Idaho. IFF presented him with the Pioneer Award.

This year’s Ralph Smeed Lifetime Achievement Award, IFF’s highest honor, was given to Elizabeth Allan Hodge. She is a tireless fighter for free markets, her most recent endeavor being coordinator for the Northwest Patriot Academy, which is dedicated to influencing its attendees to understand the importance of constitutional principles in considering legislation and public policy.