Residents honored for service
Five residents will receive the 1997 Sunnyvale City awards for outstanding service to the community.
Sue Barbieri has been named "distinguished citizen of the year."
Barbieri, a staff member and a volunteer for Sunnyvale Community Services, has enlisted, trained and guided more than 700 volunteers yearly to expand the agency's ability to help thousands of people in need in Sunnyvale.
Columbia Middle School Principal Betsy Doss received an award of excellence. She played a key role in the construction of the Columbia Neighborhood Center, built with funds from the city, the Sunnyvale School District and Advanced Micro Devices.
Ken Leonard was named the "outstanding business person of the year." Leonard launched Amdahl Corporation's "Read to Succeed" program three years ago. It now reaches 50 schools.
Ray Mion was named "outstanding community volunteer" for serving as a mentor and tutor to children.
Deborah Schapira, a student at Menlo School in Atherton, and Amy Yan, a student at Wilcox High School, were named "outstanding high school seniors."
Yan tutored elementary school students, led public service activities and taught computer use at Santa Clara University. Schapira founded a United Nations program and led it for three years.
The awards will be presented at the yearly Sunnyvale State of the City and Community Care Fair celebration scheduled for Saturday morning, May 31, at the Sunnyvale Civic Center, 456 West Olive Ave.
"It is a measure of the strength of our community when so many outstanding people contribute so much of their time and talent to make Sunnyvale a great place to live and do business," said Mayor Stan Kawczynski in a news release.
Nominees were selected from community organizations, businesses, schools and citizens. The awards selection committee was made up of residents and business people.
City receives tool for finding abducted children
The Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety will receive a $9,000 computer system to help track abducted children.
The system instantly provides information on missing or abducted children to all agencies linked to the system or a fax machine, thus ensuring the information is disseminated quickly.
The Sunnyvale City Council approved the donation from SocialTech at its March 25 meeting.
SocialTech is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 in the aftermath of the Polly Klaas abduction and murder in Petaluma.
SocialTech has worked with Hewlett-Packard and AT&T to equip law enforcement agencies with technology aimed at mounting the quickest response to a child abduction.
The system will eventually be installed in every law enforcement agency in all nine Bay Area communities, according to city officials.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, April 9, 1997.
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