4 Named Winners of Golden Rule Awards

In a program that recognizes outstanding community service, four volunteers were honored this week with Golden Rule Awards.

The winners, selected by a panel of civic leaders that included representatives of Mayor Richard Riordan and Councilman Richard Alarcon, were recognized by the Panorama City-based Volunteer Center of San Fernando Valley and J.C. Penney Co., which co-sponsored the award.

Anne McLean was honored for individual achievement in the adult volunteer category. After a car accident left one of her own children disabled, McLean helped start Project Headway Inc., a Northridge care-giving residence for brain-injured adults.

Avimael Carrillo, 17, was commended for teenage volunteerism. Carrillo has donated time to the American Red Cross shelter in Burbank for three years while attending Burbank High School. Cheryl Bowden, Red Cross director of volunteers, said she first noticed Carrillo after the Northridge quake when he made it a practice to visit the shelter every night.

Robert Leo Walker Sr., a tutor at the Pacoima Community Youth Culture Center, received an award for his work in education. For 20 years, the retired Woodland Hills teacher has helped students with math and English homework. Connie Taylor-Broadous, director of the Pacoima center, said Walker sometimes stays at the center until it closes at 9 p.m. “He never leaves until all the children have been tutored,” she said.

The employees of ITT Gilfillan, a radar manufacturing business in Van Nuys, won in the group volunteer category for its Employee Mentors Computer Training Program for Langdon Elementary School students involved in LA’s BEST After School Program.

The four winners received $1,000 each to be donated to their volunteer organizations.