2012 FANHS PA 2Community Service Awardees

7/31/2019 2012 FANHS PA 2Community Service Awardees

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2012 FANHS PA Community Service Awardees

Lovella Calica is a writer,photographer and multi-media

artist. She is the founder and

director of Warrior Writers, a

creative community for

veterans articulating their

experiences. She has edited

three anthologies of Iraq era

veterans writing and artworkentitled: Move, Shoot and

Communicate, Re-Making

Senseand After Action Review.

Lovella received two Art and Change grants from the Leeway Foundation and

was honored with the Transformation Award in 2009. She published her first

chapbook of poetryMakibaka: Beautifully Brave in 2006 and Huwag Matakot:

Do Not be Afraidin 2011. Lovella is a co-founder of the Pilipino-American artist

collective, Tatlo Mestiz@s.

Noel Abejo -- Vice President ofTechnology Infrastructure for Wells

Fargo Bank -- is the founder, past

President and current advisor for the

Filipino American Community Athletic

Association (FACAA). He currently

volunteers with the American Red

Cross, American Cancer Society,

WorkReady Philadelphia, and Friends of

Independence National Historic Park.Noel is a past member of the

Philadelphia Mayors Commission on

Asian Affairs, the Philadelphia Police

Commissioners Advisory Committee,

and former Vice President and Public Relations Officer of the Filipino Executive

Council of Greater Philadelphia (FECGP).


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Janet Ismael Escarcha

writes: Community is thebasis for all humanity. I am aFilipina and a proud mother offour. I belong to a core andcommon heritage. At this stageof my life, I realize community

extends beyond my ownancestry but also reaches outto where all human beings areconnected. This is why I am apart of Gleam of Hope

Orphanage (dot org) in Haiti. Iam choosing to make adifference in my global

community. In the words of the great Jose Rizal, It is a useless life that is notconsecrated to a great ideal. It is like a stone wasted on the field without

becoming a part of any edifice. Thank you FANHS for this wonderful honor.

Cyndi Gutierrez, wasborn and raised here in

Philadelphia - where herFilipino immigrant fathermet her mother whileserving in the U.S. Navy.Always volunteering forcauses she believes in,

Cyndi serves such groupsas Interpersonal Violence

against Asian Communities(IVAAC), Asian PacificAmerican Health

Consortium (APAHC), theUnity Clinic, Southeast

Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition (SEAMAAC), FBI Multi-Cultural Advisory Committee (FBI MCAC), among others. She most recentlyworked for AIDS Services in Asian Communities (ASIAC) where her job involvedHIV testing, counseling and much more. Past awards for Cyndis communitywork include a Senate Proclamation from Senator Allyson Schwartz.


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Pioquinto Skip Voluntad, born in

Philadelphia, served as the chairman of the

Mayors Asian American Commission under Ed

Rendell for eight years. He is the first Asian to be

a member of both the Council on Aging and

AARPs Volunteer Executive Council for the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Mr. Voluntad is

on the board of directors of the Mental Health

Association of SE Pennsylvania, and thePhiladelphia Corporation of Aging. He is a

partner in New Populations Inc. and serves as

an advisor of Penn Asian Senior Services and the

Cambodian Senior Center. Hes a consultant to

CBH Asian Behavior Health Task Force and the Wedge Medical Center. Mr. and

Mrs. Voluntad are the parents of 7 children and 10 grandchildren.

Mary A. Faustino, born in Philadelphia, served on

the Philadelphia Commission on Asian Pacific Affairs

under the Goode and Rendell administration. An

accountant for more than 30 years, she served as Co-

chair and Treasurer of the National Pan Asian Business

Conference and is past President and treasurer of the

Asian American Womens Coalition (AAWC). As a

former special assistant for Senator Rick Santorum,

Mary eventually became Director of Constituent

Services for the Philadelphia Office. Shes volunteered

with AARP Tax Aide, the executive council of AARP PA,

the Multicultural Affairs Congress of Philadelphia, and

the Cambodian Association of Greater Philadelphia.

She still serves on the boards of AAWC, the Parish

Council of St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Christopher Columbus Charter School,

the Caring People Alliance and various other organizations.


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Amelia Belardo-Cox currently aconsultant in Organization, Program andResource Development previously served

as Executive Director of Voyage House,

Incorporated; Director of the Lutheran

Settlement House Womens Program, and

Director of the Transitions Job Training

Program at Harrisburg Area Community

College. A former Vice-President of the

Asian American Womens Coalition, she

established the Alma Belardo ArtsScholarship in memory of her sister, Alma,

to fund Asian High School graduates

pursuing an education in the arts. Shes the former Vice-President of

Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth and volunteers as a Field

Instructor for Asian students pursuing their graduate degrees in Social Work.

Virginia Virgie Olivar Luz, a retired

Registered Dietitian of more than 39 years, is theFounding President of the University of the

Philippines Alumni Association PA Chapter. She

founded the Mutya Philippine Dance Company

and still serves as Board Chair while being

actively involved in the companys regular work

and gala performances in Greater Philadelphia as

well as in the Philippines. Previous awards

include being inducted into the Asian American

Hall of Fame in Chicago, and recognition by

Channel 6ABC for community service. She is a

former Mother of the Year and past President of

Filipino American Association of Philadelphia, Inc.

(FAAPI).

2012 FANHS PA 2Community Service Awardees

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