First 5 San Bernardino honors local champions

25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

First 5 San Bernardino representatives and Local Champion Award winners at First 5’s Nov. 14 anniversary celebration in Redlands are Dr. Elliot Weinstein, left, First 5 San Bernardino commission chairman; award winners Reyna Sanchez, Michelle Parker and James Moses; Maha Rizvi, accepting the award for Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes; award winner Dr. Marti Baum; Norm Nunez, accepting the award for Ted Alejandre; and First 5’s executive director, Karen Scott, and assistant director, Cindy Faulkner. Courtesy of First 5 San Bernardino

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First 5 San Bernardino recently celebrated its 25 years of service to young children and families in San Bernardino County with an event at the Fox Event Center in Redlands.

Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, was keynote speaker at the Nov. 14 event that included awards and appearances by Tony Thurmond, California superintendent of public instruction, and Nadine Burke Harris, founder of the Center for Youth Wellness and former surgeon general of California, according to a news release.

“What First 5 San Bernardino does matters so much. This county has the greatest diversity, the greatest growth, certainly the greatest people and the greatest opportunity,” Thurmond said at the event, according to the news release.

“We have an opportunity to make sure that children have access to nutrition, early education, learning to read and more. It starts with what happens here in San Bernardino,” Thurmond said.

Community leaders, partners and commissioners attended the event celebrating First 5 San Bernardino’s impact on young children and their families. The event also recognized local champions whose contributions have impacted the lives of children from birth to age 5.

Winners of First 5 San Bernardino’s Local Champion Awards are Reyna Sanchez, parent champion; Michelle Parker, Loma Linda University Health program coordinator, SAFE Kids; James Moses, regional director for Child Care Resource Center; Assemblymember Eloise Gomez Reyes; Marti Baum, pediatrician, Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital; and Ted Alejandre, San Bernardino County superintendent of schools.

“We know that raising children can oftentimes take a village, so we are proud to have been able to stand alongside in support of our county’s families for so many years,” Karen Scott, executive director of First 5 San Bernardino, said in the news release.

“This anniversary event was a chance for us to look back at all we have done, what we still have left to do, and most of all, recognize the organizations that we have worked with for 25 years to provide our families with the best resources possible,” Scott said.

Since its founding in 1999, First 5 San Bernardino has worked to empower parents and caregivers through a network of county partnerships that offer family support services.

For information about First 5 San Bernardino, go to First5SanBernardino.org.