Awardees include Maginhawa community pantry organizer Patricia Non, lawyer Dot Gancayco, and Fr. Steve Tynan
With our community quarantine still in place, the QC Government and the Rotary Club of Rotary International District 3780 held a semi-virtual night of honor for this year’s Golden Wheel Awards. Given to outstanding non-Rotarians who have exemplified the Rotary spirit of "Service Above Self" and the guiding principles of the Four Way Test, 11 awardees in specific categories were recognized this year.
Rotary International District 3780 Governor Johnny Gaw Yu and Golden Wheel Awards Chairman Paul Angel Galang announced the winners. Patricia Non, the Maginhawa community pantry organizer, was one popular winner in the Growing Local Economies Amid the Pandemic category, as were Josephine Barbin and lawyer Dot Gancayco in the Supporting Education category.
Others awarded included Ferdinand Constantino also for Growing Local Economies Amid the Pandemic, Dr. John Michael Lao for Fighting Disease, Melodina Maximo for Promoting Peace, Arthur Opiniano for Fighting Disease, Clarita Orlain for Protecting the Environment, Leila Rebadomia for Saving Mothers and Children, Dr. Edith Tria for Supporting Education, and Fr. Steve Tynan for Promoting Peace.
Patricia Non, Patreng to her friends, is from the University of the Philippines’ College of Fine Arts and, when interviewed, said she had put up the pantry simply because she wanted to help, seeing there was a problem caused by the pandemic, and it moved her to try and be part of the solution.
The awards selection committee was chaired by past District Governor Samuel Pagdilao, Jr., with QC Councilor Winnie Castelo, past District Governor Bong Cruz, and Rotary governors from other districts. Together, they voted to determine the winners from several nominees across respective categories.
Governor Johnny Gaw Yu was proud to say that the awardees are ‘all distinguished personalities who have contributed in their own way to the service of the nation, and the overall improvement of the lives of Filipinos’.