SAN FERNANDO : 4 Women Lauded for Community Work

Four women who have contributed time and money to causes ranging from senior centers to county hospitals were lauded Thursday as “Outstanding Women of the Community” by merchants in the northeast Valley.

Norma Jacobs, the director of volunteers at Olive View Medical Center, was nominated by the Sylmar Chamber of Commerce for 12 years of work in the community, including raising thousands of dollars for the county facility.

“I’m very honored. This has become my adopted home,” said Jacobs, a Studio City resident, shortly before the ceremony at the San Fernando Police Department.

The annual event, begun in 1987, was hosted by members of the Arleta, Mission Hills, Pacoima, San Fernando and Sylmar chambers of commerce.

The other honorees were: Christine Washington, a recreation director at Hubert H. Humphrey Memorial Park in Pacoima, who helps run anti-drug programs for youth; Patty Santana Quezada, the president of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, who has chaired numerous community events including a Christmas food drive; and Dorothy P. Caldwell, a member of the Pacoima First United Methodist Church and Pacoima Senior Citizens Multipurpose Advisory Council.