Honoring hard work
Children of the Manos de Amor Casa Hogar and house mother Veronica Gomez Garcia joined visitors to unveil a beautiful new plaque honoring former Bucerias resident Valiene Heckart, without whose tireless work the bigger and better children’s shelter would still be a dream.
Heckart organized the annual Rhythm ‘N Ribs event, as well as frequent bazaars and cocktail parties, to raise money for the shelter. Soon after the building project was finished, she returned to live in the United States to be closer to her family.
It occurred to Harold Sokolove that in time, shelter volunteers and visitors would not know of Heckart’s substantial contribution in making make the home a reality. So he suggested to local ceramics craftswoman and Manos de Amor volunteer Anne Milling that it would be a fitting tribute to have a plaque at the shelter recognizing Heckart’s leadership.
Milling agreed and offered to donate the materials and the kiln firing of a tile in Heckart’s honor. Another shelter volunteer, Nicole Youngquist, painted the tile.
The kids gave a big “Valiene, Valiene, Valiene” cheer at the unveiling this week. Afterwards, everyone celebrated with snacks and drinks.
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