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Mayor Rick Rodriguez with his first Mayors Servant Heart Award recipient Yvonne Salgado.
Photos courtesy of T. McDuff
By Tammye McDuff
Long time resident Yvonne Salgado received the Mayors Servant Heart Award at the first Downey Council meeting of the New Year. “This award is just what it says it is, those people who want to go out and do good for others, without reward or being told to do so,” said Mayor Rick Rodriguez.”
A video was presented by Knock Knock Angels participating in a Christmas Miracle Makeover for a veteran of 26 years to get a fresh start for a fresh year. The veteran had been in Iraq and suffered severe spinal damage and PTSD. She had two young daughters and was in dire need furniture, financial assistance and home repair. Salgado contacted Rodriguez with information about this veteran and the call for help was placed on FaceBook. By the end of the day a houseful of new furniture had been donated as well as over $900.
“This was the true meaning of a servant’s heart,” says Rodriguez, “In recognition of your selfless dedication, going above and beyond for our veterans; I award you with this first Mayors Servant Heart Award.”
Knock Knock Angels is a grass roots organization that started with one kind gesture, assisting two strangers that were in need. “Knock-knock,” were the words spoken to two unsuspecting college students at a department store as they were handed two crisp $20 bills.
Overhearing two young women feeling sad about what they could not afford, a kind stranger decided to ease their sadness by giving them enough money to purchase the items they were looking at. The only request that was asked of these young women was to repay the generosity to someone else at some later time. The kind stranger was Knock Knock Angels Founder, Vickie Lobo, and with that simple act of giving, the vision for what is now a year-round philanthropic organization was conceived.
Knock Knock Angels seek donations to help families and individuals in the community. The goal is to help those facing challenges and hardships help themselves, by giving hope and purpose. Angels has provided single parents with new furnishings, made home improvements, and donated gifts which in turn help their children thrive. “We have held the hands of neglected seniors or those who have been abused by providing them with clean, safe living environments,” says Lobo,” Veterans receive assistance from us in the form of home retrofitting to meet the physical or emotional handicaps they may have developed while serving our country. We not only want to meet a family’s necessary needs but help them visualize a brighter future.”
To help or volunteer for Angels visit knockknockangels.org
