Napa Chamber Announces Community Awards

The whose collaborative creations include a popular downtown sculpture tour and the inaugural festival.

The Latina student – first in her family to attend college – who lifts others up by helping direct a youth leadership academy and the Napa Valley Dream Act Coalition.

The hospice nurse, also a co-facilitator of a “Bosom Buddies” breast cancer support group, whom many of her patients know as “Saint Adele.”

These are the caliber of people who make the Napa Valley not merely a place, but a thriving and genuine community. And they are among the ordinary yet extraordinary heroes being honored by “Celebrating Community,” the fifth annual Napa Valley Community Awards co-sponsored by the and .

This year’s winners include:
• Outstanding Public Safety Person Omar Salem, a Napa police officer who specializes in English and Spanish community outreach – and who also founded and organizes the annual “Hoops to Stop Youth Violence” fundraiser basketball playoff between city police and firefighters.
• Outstanding Hospitality Tourism winner Clay Gregory, president and CEO of the NapaValley Destination Council, who succeeds at promoting the valley as a place visitors should savor in the off-peak season as well as Sundays through Thursdays.
• Outstanding Community Booster Chuck McMinn, head of Vineyard 29, who has plunged into civic engagement with organizations such as NapaLearns – and transformed every nonprofit he has led.
• Outstanding Nonprofit Employee Kristina Young, executive director of , who not only pushed innovative ways to link the arts with the community but also secured grant funding to turn her vision into reality.
• Outstanding Napa Valley Community College Student Karla Gomez, a local activist who was one of 22 Latina youth selected for the “Latinas Learning to Lead” program of the National Hispana Leadership Institute in Washington.
• Outstanding Healthcare Professional Adele Cotter, veteran RN and “nurse navigator” at who now brings her calm and empathetic care skills to patients through .

This year’s winners for Outstanding Teacher and Outstanding Nonprofit Organization of the Year will be announced at the event.

The 2011 Awardees will be honored at a luncheon on Tuesday, May 24 at the along with the 2011 nominees and past winners. The event is from 11:30 – 1 p.m. and costs $55 per person. To purchase tickets or for more information, contact the Napa Chamber at (707) 226-7455 or online at napachamberfoundation.org.

From the Napa Chamber of Commerce.