Latina, 87, Honored for Lifetime Service to Community

When I read this I knew I had to post it. Yes, it’s small town news, and yes, it may not seem to matter in the grand scheme, but Alejandra “Ollie” Zuñiga’s selflessness is exactly the kind of news and model we need to know about and honor. The 87 year-old Ollie was given the “Maria Zavala Award for her lifetime achievements serving the Hispanic community at the 18th annual Dia de La Mujer (Day of the Woman) Conference at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Center on Saturday.”
According to mlive.com Zuñiga,

A native of Gonzales, Texas (woot! editors remark), Zuñiga moved to Saginaw with her family in the 1940s. As former migrant worker in family of 11, Zuñiga said realized the power of an education, even though she had to drop out in the 11th grade to help her parents during World War II. Her brothers had enlisted in the Army, and it was up to Zuñiga and her sisters to support the family. She is the last survivor of that family. She is a widow and mother of five adult children.

Her work in the Latino community of Saginaw and Michigan humbles me:

• She served as a volunteer translator for Spanish-speaking patients as a surgical technician in the 1950s
• She’s the founder of Project Pride, a tutoring program in the Saginaw Public Schools helping as many as 80 students in the 1980s.
• Shes a lifetime member and former officer of American GI Forum
• She has met three presidents and governors and continues to speak out on political issues that affect Americans, especially Hispanics.
• She is the founder of the five-year-old César Chávez Scholarship Luncheon that has raised $10,000 in scholarships each year.

Saginaw GI Forum Commander Frank Ornelas called Zuniga “a tough little lady” who has always had the drive to fulfill the GI Forum’s mission of making “education everybody’s business” when others saw only the barriers.

I’m positive we all know “Ollie’s” in our community, our elders, our viejitos who have done so much and deserve a daily recognition for providing the shoulders we stand upon. We always tend to recognize the national figures, the one’s who do grand things under key lights, but we all know that the heart and strength of our community is seldom noticed. That’s why I had to post this; I couldn’t let it go by.

If you agree give this post a “like.” If you want to send Ollie a message post it in the comments and we’ll make sure she get’s it.

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda