{"id":7994,"date":"2025-10-16T14:53:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T14:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/7994\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T14:53:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T14:53:12","slug":"2025-santa-clara-community-award-honorees-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/7994\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Santa Clara Community Award Honorees Named"},"content":{"rendered":"

Santa Clara City Council members honored community members with awards at this year\u2019s State of the City Gala.<\/p>\n

Each of the council members singled out a person in their district they believe makes the city a better place. Mayor Lisa Gillmor also gave an award for the citywide Santa Claran of the year.<\/p>\n

Council Member Albert Gonzalez named Helen Narciso District 1\u2019s award.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"Sutter<\/a><\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"BrainShare_Ad_Image.\"\"BrainShare_Ad_Image.\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As a Women\u2019s Club volunteer, Gonzalez said Narciso is \u201cunapologetic\u201d in standing up for what she believes, a quality that has a \u201cripple effect\u201d beyond his district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kindness that you bring to the neighborhood and the energy that balance; I don\u2019t know how you do it,\u201d Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n

The District 2 award went to Nelio and Teresa DeFreitas of Portuguese Tasty Desserts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In a statement read by Gillmor, Council Member Raj Chahal wrote that the bakery serves as a \u201ccultural anchor\u201d for the city by participating in cultural fairs and neighborhood events as well as donating food to the needy.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The bakery] invites all residents to share in the flavors and heritage of Portugal, making it a sweet example of how small businesses can strengthen the community identity, pride and connection,\u201d Chahal wrote.<\/p>\n

Council Member Karen Hardy named Karen Hovey as District 3\u2019s awardee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For nearly 30 years, Hovey has been involved in education. She served on the parent teacher association for many years, even doing a stint as its president and earning parent volunteer of the year three years in a row.<\/p>\n

But Hovey\u2019s volunteering wasn\u2019t limited to education. She also led scripture study at her local church, was the president of the Santa Clara congregation\u2019s Relief Society and served as director for a Scout day camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always said it was a good year if no one lost a finger, a toe, or burned down the forest,\u201d Hardy said of Hovey.<\/p>\n

Council Member Kevin Park gave Big Mug Coffee Roaster owner GiYeong Yi the District 4 award.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

He said her hard work and commitment to making the Korean community vibrant are invaluable to Santa Clara.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that people who know about coffee know about Big Mug. I think that people who need a place to study know about Big Mug. I think that people who know about getting desserts and getting good things to eat don\u2019t drink coffee, know about Big Mug,\u201d Park said.\u00a0\u201cShe named Big Mug Coffee to imply a big mug that you share with your family, with your friends, and that\u2019s literally what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Hartenstein received the District 5 award. Gillmor read a statement from Council Member Suds Jain singing the praises of Hartenstein\u2019s bar, Tap Lands, with its old-world pub feel.<\/p>\n

Vice Mayor Kelly Cox selected founder of A Slice of New York pizzeria Kirk Vartan the District 6 awardee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Not only has Vartan\u2019s pizzeria been a mainstay in Santa Clara for 18 years, his involvement in the city\u2019s Agrihood development demonstrates his commitment to the city. Cox said Vartan has \u201cgrit,\u201d noting his frequent presence at city council meetings despite not being a resident, adding that he \u201ckeeps showing up\u201d for Santa Clara.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we are challenged and we have to get back to what our beliefs are, when we have to reconsider our choices, when somebody pushes us hard enough that it makes us uncomfortable, we become better,\u201d Cox said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, Gillmor honored Daniel Woo with the Santa Claran of the year award.<\/p>\n

Gillmor said what Woo does with his \u201cdeep roots\u201d in Santa Clara, especially during the \u201cdarkest days\u201d of the pandemic, sets him apart. During that time, Woo delivered 500 free meals to isolated and vulnerable residents. As a leader of multiple Korean-American organizations, Woo also created the county\u2019s first Korean cultural festival, held in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n

Gillmor called him a \u201cbridge builder in the truest sense of the word.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I admire most about Daniel is his approach. He\u2019s not loud or attention-seeking. He simply sees what needs to be done, and he does it. He collaborates, he listens and he delivers results \u2026 Daniel leads with humility and effectiveness,\u201d said Gillmor.<\/p>\n

Contact David Alexander at\u00a0d.todd.alexander@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Related Posts:
2023 Santa Clara Community Award Recipients<\/a>
2022 State of the City Recognizes Community Award Honorees<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

SPONSORED<\/p>\n

\"SiliconValleyVoice_Ad2\"\"SiliconValleyVoice_Ad2\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Santa Clara City Council members honored community members with awards at this year\u2019s State of the City Gala.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2914,2915,2916,2917,8087,2918,88,90,89,197,8088,2921,2922,2923],"class_list":["post-7994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-albert-gonzalez","tag-karen-hardy","tag-kelly-cox","tag-kevin-park","tag-mayor-lisa-gillmor","tag-raj-chahal","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-state-of-the-city","tag-santa-clara-weekly","tag-silicon-valley-voice","tag-suds-jain"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}