Woodland Hills : Interfaith Council to Present Awards

For their public service and dedication to human relations in the Valley, U.S. Rep. Anthony Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills) and Cal State Northridge President Blenda Wilson will be among the honorees at the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council’s “Heartbeat of the Valley” Human Relations Awards Dinner tonight at the Warner Center Marriott.

The fifth annual awards dinner recognizes corporate, community and religious leaders and public servants from the region.

Beilenson will receive the council’s “Spirit of the Valley” award for his 30 years of public service on the state and national levels, where he has defended environmental regulations and fought for campaign finance reform among other issues.

For her leadership of the Valley’s major academic institution--particularly as it recuperates from $350 million in earthquake damage--Wilson will receive a Human Relations Award.

Receiving the corporate award will be Kaiser Permanente of Southern California for its humanitarian donation of nearly $1 million yearly to nonprofit groups. Kaiser’s Panorama City-area medical director David Potyk and Woodland Hills area medical director Joseph Ruderman will accept the award.

Bishop Roy I. Sano of the Los Angeles area of the United Methodist Church and Donald H. Inloes, director of emergency response for the Los Angeles area of the UMC, will receive the religious leaders award.

Sano will be lauded for his church’s support of the homeless, people with AIDS and battered women in the Valley; Inloes for leading the church’s $2.4-million drive for earthquake recovery funds.