Arne Skarpsno was a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

. He became known as "Father of the street children". For many years of his life he worked as a volunteer among homeless people, people with social problems and drug addicts. He and his wife Gerd would distribute packed lunch

Packed lunch

thumb|A typical American bagged lunchthumb|[[Bento]] packed lunchA packed lunch is a lunch prepared at home and carried to be eaten somewhere else, such as school, a workplace, or at an outing...

es to the needy on the streets of Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. He was awarded the King's Medal of Merit

HM The King's Medal of Merit

The King's Medal of Merit is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold and silver. The medal in gold is rewarded for extraordinary achievements of importance to the...

 in 1997 for his volunteer work. In 2007 a bust

Bust (sculpture)

A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...

 of him was introduced at the area informally known as "Plata" (The Platter) in downtown Oslo, the city's center point for heroin and illegal drugs trade for several years. Skarpsno was present at the introduction and he urged the general population to do more for other people. Having taken a blood test in May 2006, it became clear that he had cancer, and he was admitted to the Akershus University Hospital

Akershus University Hospital

The Akershus University Hospital is a Norwegian public university hospital located in the Lørenskog municipality, in the county of Akershus, east of the Norwegian capital Oslo. It is one of four university hospitals affiliated with the University of Oslo...

 in November the same year. There a kidney and a tumor were removed. He died at Akershus University Hospital.

Awards

• 2006 Norske Kvinners Sanitetsforening's (Norwegian Women's Aid Society) Fredrikke Award
• 2007 HM The King's Medal of Merit
  HM The King's Medal of Merit
  The King's Medal of Merit is a Norwegian award. It was instituted in 1908 to reward meritorious achievements in the fields of art, science, business and public service. It is divided in two classes: gold and silver. The medal in gold is rewarded for extraordinary achievements of importance to the...
  
  in Silver