Excitement is building for the 2025 Fernando Award Foundation’s annual gala event coming up November 7. Since its inception in 1958, the Fernando Award is considered the highest recognition for community volunteerism given to an individual in the greater San Fernando Valley.
“Since its first awards gala, more than 60 Valley community and business leaders have been named Fernando recipients. For more than six decades, the Fernando Award has been given to a local leader for a lifetime of significant and longstanding volunteer work,” explained Fernando Foundation Nominations Committee chairman Lee Alpert. “Nominees are evaluated based on their volunteer engagement, length and number of years of volunteer service, leadership, fundraising and mentorship.”
This year there are five finalists and the 2025 honoree will be announced at the gala. This year’s finalists include Armida Colmenares Stafford, Dennis DeYoung, Steve Fazio, Sharon Udkoff and Jorge Rabaso.
The recipient of the prestigious Fernando Award to be honored at the black-tie ceremony will be joined by this year’s Impact Award honorees. Launched in 2018, the Fernando Foundation’s Impact Awards have become part of the organization’s tradition to highlight community leaders.
“The Impact Awards recognize individuals, teams of people or local businesses who demonstrate outstanding achievements in community engagement, volunteerism and leadership,” said Fernando Foundation Impact Awards Committee chairman Mark Levinson. “2025 has been a history-making year so we are especially recognizing our city’s first responders together with a select group of our community leaders. This year’s honorees are the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Los Angeles Police Department, attorney Fred Gaines, Valley News Group publisher Kathleen Sterling, Galpin Motors and community advocate Waltona Manion.”
An award-winning journalist and publisher of five newspapers in the San Fernando Valley, Kathleen Sterling has been dedicated to community journalism, focusing on the Valley’s local news since 1982.
In four decades, she has served on the boards of the Valley Cultural Center, Louisville High School, Pacific Lodge Boys Home, Calabasas Chamber of Commerce, the Heart Run & Walk, and the American Heart Association. Sterling has volunteered for Haven Hills, Valley Women’s Center, Valley Interfaith Council, West Valley Food Pantry, Girl Scouts, Guadalupe Center, Angel’s Way Maternity Home, Woodland Hills Rotary, St. Mel Church and the Calabasas Rotary.
Hundreds of Valley non-profits have been supported by Sterling’s newspapers with news coverage and advertising. Her editorials on important civic and community issues have provided much needed information and helped generate public and legislative support.
She is the recipient of the C. Everett Coop national journalism award, a Google News Initiative award, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal’s “Valley 200,” the Promenade Mall Woman of the Year, the Calabasas Chamber’s Spirit Award, the Valley Cultural Center’s Clyde Porter Humanitarian Award, the Woodland Hills Chamber’s Joseph Staller Community Service Award, and is a seven-time Fernando Award nominee.
Fred Gaines served as mayor for the city of Calabasas twice, most notably during the 2018 Woolsey Fire. Before joining the Calabasas council, he served on the city’s Library Commission and the Calabasas Civic Center Task Force. He was instrumental in helping Calabasas secure funding for its library and civic center.
As a volunteer activist, he has worked on taxation, transportation, housing and regional planning issues. Gaines has been an advocate of the Mountains Restoration Trust and the Canyon Creek senior housing project. He is a current board member of the Los Angeles Jewish Health as well as a past board chair of both VICA – the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA) and The Valley Economic Alliance (TVEA).
Bert and Jane Boeckmann began a tradition of community service and philanthropy for Galpin Motors. Today Beau and Mary Boeckmann and the Boeckmann family carry that legacy forward.
Started in the Valley in 1946, Galpin Motors became a world-famous automotive enterprise and the largest Ford dealership in the world. It has a long history of community service, including the support of thousands of educational, cultural, charitable and civic institutions and organizations. These include schools, colleges, child care, youth groups, public safety and law enforcement, community services, domestic violence shelters, medical research, animal rescue and adoption, urban improvement and veterans’ groups. Homeboy Industries, Heal the Bay, Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors, Christian Heritage School, WiSH Education Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, New Directions for Youth, Goodwill, Boys & Girls Clubs, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and The Heart Foundation have all been recipients of Galpin generosity.
For over two decades,Waltona Manion’s community service has been wide-ranging. Her work has included chairing Los Angeles Valley College’s Citizens Building Oversight Committee (CBOC) and as a Valley Glen Neighborhood Association board member, organizing their annual festival and community clean-ups.
Her efforts for Erwin Street Elementary School included securing food and service donations and free busing for student field trips.
Elected the Encino Chamber of Commerce’s president, she helped produce their annual Valley-wide senior services directory; coordinated annual disaster preparedness drill logistics and oversaw the merger of the Sherman Oaks/Encino Chamber of Commerce.
During COVID, she worked with the mayor’s office on a 16-month emergency meals program for low-income seniors, using her home as a supply and staging site for labor and food packaging assembly.
In times of crisis, true courage rises—and during the tragedy of the January 2025 fires, the men and women of the Los Angeles City Fire Department once again proved what it means to serve with valor, skill, and unwavering dedication. As flames threatened lives, homes and wildlife, LAFD mobilized with speed and precision. They faced steep terrain, shifting winds, and extreme conditions, yet stood firm on the frontlines, protecting our city without hesitation. Their efforts during the Palisades and Altadena fires were nothing short of heroic. Thanks to their strategic coordination, tireless work and collaboration with LA County Fire, emergency services and law enforcement, thousands of acres on fire were brought under control.
The city of Los Angeles has faced no shortage of challenges this year—from the devastation of wildfires that threatened lives and property, to the intensity of civic protests. In both instances, the men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department stood on the front lines, answering the call of duty with courage, discipline, and a commitment to public safety. During the LA fires, LAPD worked tirelessly alongside firefighters and emergency personnel to ensure the safe and orderly movement of residents. Officers went door to door, helping the elderly and vulnerable evacuate, directing traffic away from danger zones, and maintaining calm amidst uncertainty. Amid the protests, officers upheld the law with professionalism, often enduring long hours under difficult conditions.
When January’s flames threatened homes, neighborhoods and natural spaces, Los Angeles County firefighters acted swiftly and decisively. They battled difficult terrain, record-breaking winds and fire storm conditions that would test anyone’s resolve. Yet, through skill, teamwork and determination, they contained the worst wildfires in Los Angeles’ living memory. Their tireless efforts, often carried out under dangerous and exhausting circumstances, reflect the very best of public service and community spirit.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department worked alongside multiple agencies and support personnel including law enforcement, emergency medical teams, public works and local volunteers.
During the devastating Los Angeles fires, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies placed themselves directly in harm’s way to protect lives and property and provided order amid chaos.
While firefighters fought the flames, LASD deputies secured perimeters, coordinated evacuations, and maintained traffic control under perilous conditions. Their coordination with the Los Angeles County Fire Department and local agencies was vital in keeping evacuation routes clear and ensuring that emergency responders could reach affected areas swiftly. Deputies provided assistance at evacuation centers, helped reunite families and safeguarded evacuated neighborhoods from looting or vandalism.
For more information about the Fernando Award Foundation, visit www.fernandoawards.org
