2007 Outstanding Community Service Awardee
 By Mila Lamerand

On September 15, 2007, during the 35^th FAAWIS Annual Dinner Dance, Antonia “Ning” Mendoza, received the plaque for the Outstanding Community Service Award for 2007.  What makes Ning outstanding?  Courage, loyalty, enthusiasm, charm, and a positive frame of mind.  Ning truly has all these qualities and it has been a privilege to have been associated with and to have worked closely with her in some of the FAAWIS activities, particularly the annual Holiday Folk Fair. Ning was very surprised and very happy when I called her name as the recipient of the award.

Dr. Ted Robles, a member of the FAAWIS board and the treasurer, as well, had this to say about Ning:  “The FAAWIS food booth has been an important showcase of Filipino culture during the Holiday Folk Fair.  For many years, Ning has focused her leadership, talent, and energy into making sure that the FAAWIS food booth generates many admirers of Filipino food.  Her unselfish attitude has a positive influence on all the volunteers, thus the time consuming tasks of food preparation, turn into a social event that makes the workload appear lighter.”

Ning is a retired teacher from Milwaukee Public Schools.  Dr. Jazmin Parcon-Sandoval, the committee chairman of the Holiday Folk Fair gave her impressions on Ning:  “Ning is a teacher, both inside and outside the classroom.  She is firm and has high expectations of others, yet,  has the ability to let go and allows others to come forward and make mistakes under her supervision.  She is not obsessive in her search for perfection, which endears her to her ‘kitchen cabinet’.  Continued on page 4….    She is very innovative and Continued from page 1...constantly experiments with recipes, testing this and that ingredient, until the finished product passes her approval and is ultimately offered in the Filipino Food Both at the Holiday Folk Fair.  She is dedicated to her volunteer work at the Folk Fair and the fair has a special magic for her.  She prefers to work behind the scenes making sure that the Food Booth is set and running before the schoolchildren arrive on Opening Day”.

Ning is married to Roger Mendoza, who in 1989, was himself the recipient of the Outstanding Community Service Award. Roger is also one of the founders of FAAWIS and  is currently a board member of FAAWIS and a member of the board of trustees of the Philippine Cultrual and Civic Center Foundation, Inc.  Roger and Ning have four children:  Ronie, Maria Nela, Joanna and Marilu; and three grandchildren:  Matthew, 4, Mikey, 2, and Gavin, 3.