SIX WEST PHILADELPHIA COMMUNITY LEADERS RECEIVE AWARDS FROM COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA

PHILADELPHIA, May 01, 2008–A state legislator, a nun, a businessman, a homeless advocate, a high school student and a Baptist minister received Distinguished Leadership Awards from Community College of Philadelphia in a breakfast ceremony on Thursday, May 1, at the West Regional Center campus.

Community College of Philadelphia President Stephen M. Curtis said these disparate individuals shared a commonality – "they have helped improve the lives of individuals in their own community."

The College instituted the awards program at each of its three Regional Centers nine years ago to celebrate community leadership. Representatives are selected from six categories – business, education, politics, faith, the community and youth.

The West Philadelphia Leadership Award winners are: State Rep. Kathy Manderino (194th Legislative District); James Burnett, executive director, West Philadelphia Financial Services Institution; Sister Rose Anthony Spingler, site coordinator, Immaculate Heart of Mary Center for Literacy; The Rev. Tokumbo A. Adelekan, pastor, Mt. Olivet Tabernacle Baptist Church; Gloria Guard, president, People’s Emergency Center; and Westley Goodwin, a senior at Sayre High School. Rep. Manderino was unable to attend the event.

"These are people who generously invest their time and energies to benefit this community and make West Philadelphia absolutely the best place to live in the city,"said State Rep. James R. Roebuck Jr. (188th Legislative District), a member of the College’s Board of Trustees.

Adelekan, a noted scholar and author of several books and numerous articles, was recently named one of Ebony magazine’s “30 Leaders of the Future.” He is the founder and director of Diakonia, Inc., a nonprofit organization devoted to enabling local congregations in urban communities to become more effective agents of spiritual and social transformation through bible study and discussion.

The West Philadelphia minister noted that as a child his mother had made him read the dictionary to expand his vocabulary of big words. “I will use a few of them now to say that I am elephant proud and well pleased to receive this award,” Adelekan said humorously. He cautioned those who would be leaders to look over their shoulder to check for followers. “If there is no one behind you, then my brothers and sisters you are just out for a walk,” he said.

People’s Emergency Center is Pennsylvania’s oldest and most comprehensive organization for homeless women, children and teenage girls. Guard also is the founder of the People’s Emergency Center Community Development Corporation, which helps provide affordable and special needs housing and initiates other revitalization projects that benefit West Philadelphia communities and families. Guard, a long-time West Philadelphia resident, praised her neighbors for their compassionate acceptance and support of PEC’s residential facilities and programs. “People welcomed us with open arms and we did not meet the kind of NIMBYism that you see in other areas,” Guard said.

Burnett played a critical role in the development of Park West Town Square, a $50 million shopping center anchored by a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center and a Shop-Rite supermarket to 52nd and Jefferson streets. West Philadelphia Financial Services owns 30 percent of the shopping center and will use its share of the profits to help revitalize the area, Burnett has said.

For 50 years, Sister Spingler has dedicated her life to empowering others through knowledge. Immaculate Heart of Mary Center for Literacy teaches English as a second language and offers high school equivalency degrees to people of all faiths and nationalities, at all skill levels. Sister Spingler noted that a number of students from the Literacy Center have gone on to attend Community College of Philadelphia.

Goodwin, the youngest honoree has established himself as a leader and dedicates his time to helping others and improving his community. The burley, soft-spoken youth is captain of the Sayre basketball team, helps counsel younger students and members of his church and serves as a Junior Block Captain, a group which he founded. Goodwin decided to become a doctor after his mother’s recovery from a severe illness three years ago.