Reflejos honors contributions to Latino community
Thirty companies and organizations were honored Tuesday night during the third annual Reflecting Excellence Awards sponsored by Reflejos Bilingual Journal at Elgin Community College.
Reflejos' Reflecting Excellence Awards aim to recognize businesses and nonprofits for their contributions to the Latino community through their services, products and community activism in Cook, Lake, Kane, McHenry, DuPage, DeKalb, Will and Kendall counties.
The organizations and businesses are nominated by readers of Reflejos.
“This event becomes more special each year, as Reflejos and its readers are able to give recognition to so many wonderful and varied groups and institutions that truly make a difference in the lives of our Latino community,” said Linda Siete, general operations and sales manager for the newspaper.
Chicago Bears' center Roberto Garza was the guest speaker.
“Garza, being one of the few Latinos in the entire NFL, believes that education gives you the opportunity to achieve your dreams, and that is why we chose him to speak,” Siete said.
He delivered his message to young students, business owners, corporate employees and families from the Hispanic community and participated in a question-and-answer session with the audience.
The readers also nominated six outstanding Latino students to win scholarships for academic achievement. Based on the votes, Reflejos awarded $1,000 scholarships to Larkin High School students Brenda Vasquez and Herman Ramirez and Streamwood High School student Daniela Esqueda. The other three students nominated were Stephanie Burciaga, Erick Flores and Victor Estrada, all of them from Palatine Opportunity Center.
Ramirez, who wants to become a teacher, said he was impressed by Roberto Garza speech.
“What impressed me most is that he comes from a very poor family and was able to make his dreams come true, and despite this he still remains very humble,” said Ramirez.
“Garza is an example for all Latinos, and not just for Latinos but for all who have a dream, a goal, to work hard in order to achieve it.”
Daniela Esqueda, who still can't decide whether to be an immigration lawyer or a marketing specialist, said the scholarship awarded by Reflejos is another boost to motivate her to go to college and pursue her dreams.
“From De la Garza's speech I learned that dreams can come true, he pursued what he liked and realized his dream. I hope to soon decide what I want to study and pursue it, because if he [Garza] could do it, I can too,” she said.
The winners of the category awards include:
• ADP Payroll Systems, based on Elk Grove Village; Ramos Tax Services and Elgin State Bank/Wintrust, both in Elgin, in the Finance category.
• Raging Waves in Yorkville; Medieval Times in Schaumburg, GrinLight Theater in Chicago and Brookfield Zoo, in Brookfield, in the Entertainment category. • Maywood Proviso Rotary Club in Maywood, Hesed House in Aurora, Waukegan Public Library, Palatine Opportunity Center, Fox Valley Wildlife Center in Elburn and Goya Foods in Bolingbrook for Community Service.
• Presence St. Joseph Hospital, Community Crisis Center and Ecker Center, all of them in Elgin, Visiting Nurses Association, which has locations in Aurora, Elgin, Bensenville, Carol Stream and Bolingbrook, and Loyola University Health Systems in Maywood in the Healthcare category.
• Wintrust Bank in Glencoe and Cano Container Corp. in Aurora in the Workplace category.
• Hanover Park Clerk's Office and Elgin Police Department in the Local Government Resource category.
• Joliet Junior College, Triton College in River Grove, Dominican University in River Forest, Waukegan to College (W2C) and Hanover Park Work & Education Center in the Education category.
• Carmen Patlan of Waukegan Public Library in the Volunteerism category.
• Gerardo Barrio of Elgin Area School District U-46 in the Educator category.