GRANADA HILLS : Three Honored for Volunteer Work

The teachers and staff at Gault Street Elementary School had kept Gloria Woo in the dark right up until the day she got her invitation to the Golden Rule Awards luncheon, given to outstanding volunteers.

“The nomination came as quite a surprise,” said Woo, one of three volunteers to be honored Wednesday at the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills.

Woo, credited for reviving the library and fostering a love of reading at the school, won the education category in the awards jointly given by the Volunteer Center of the San Fernando Valley and the J.C. Penney Co.

“I don’t do this for the awards,” said Kirk Kilgore, winner in the adult volunteer category, for his work with the Independent Living Center of Southern California based in Van Nuys.

A nine-year member of the U.S. Olympic volleyball team, Kilgore has used a wheelchair since an accident in 1976 paralyzed him from the neck down. “I did things for awards when I was younger.”

Kilgore started a creative arts program at the Independent Living Center, and volunteers at the agency to help others with disabilities to live more independently.

Pia Cruz, an 18-year-old student at Granada Hills High School, won the award in the youth volunteer category. She said she might have wound up in a gang had her parents not suggested she get into volunteer work. She was honored for three years of running youth programs for the American Red Cross.

“It’s all worth it,” said Cruz, who designed volunteer projects with the intention of giving other teen-agers a chance to do something better with their time. The projects included cleaning up parks and beaches, running a Halloween party and feeding the homeless.

A fourth award, for organizations involved in volunteering, went to Wise Senior Services, which runs the federal Long Term Care Ombudsman Program with volunteers who fight for the rights of the elderly in nursing homes.

The winners were chosen by a panel of community leaders based on the time, initiative and impact the volunteer has made on the community. Each winner received a $1,000 donation for their organization.