Jefferson Award winners named | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Jefferson Award winners named | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Updated at 6:32 p.m., Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Jefferson Award winners named

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Aloha Medical Mission founder Dr. Ramon Sy, one of Hawai'i's five 2007 Jefferson Award recipients, will represent the state at the national awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in June.

Aloha Medical Mission has 800 regular members and more than 3,000 other volunteers, said Sy, who has lived in Hawai'i since 1968.

The internationally recognized humanitarian organization has made 75 missions to 10 countries, helped more than 190,000 patients, performed more than 9,000 operations, and provided free medical services worth more than $41 million at clinics in Bangladesh and Hawai'i.

The Jefferson Awards were founded in 1972 by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, U.S. Sen. Robert Taft Jr. and Sam Beard to encourage and honor volunteerism and community service.

Hawai'i's other 2007 Jefferson Award medal recipients are:

Rachel Ariola of 'Aiea, for service to the Arthritis Foundation;

hotel executive Russell Chun, a driving force behind the Lanakila Meals on Wheels annual holiday meal delivery program and also the O'ahu Workforce Investment Board;

Assistant U.S. Attorney Loretta Sheehan, for her work with the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline;

Masaichi Tasaka, for his contributions to the boards of the Lanakila Rehabilitation Center, Caring for Life Foundation, and Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce.

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