[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 755-756]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               PAYING TRIBUTE TO SEQUOIA AWARD RECIPIENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TOM LANTOS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 6, 2002

  Mr. LANTOS. Mr. Speaker, every year the City of Redwood City, 
California, recognizes three of its citizens for outstanding volunteer 
work in the community with the Sequoia Award. This prestigious award is 
given to one student, one non-student citizen and one business each 
year in recognition of their outstanding service. This year's award 
winners are Emilia Cerrillo, a student at Menlo-Atherton High School, 
Vincent Truscelli, a Redwood City resident for over fifty years, and 
Electronic Arts, the world's largest creator of interactive electronic 
software.
  Mr. Speaker, all of this year's award winners are extraordinary 
citizens and are truly deserving of recognition. I would like to share 
with my colleagues a brief review of each Sequoia Award winner and 
highlight their achievements.
  Ms. Emilia Cerrillo, a senior at Menlo-Atherton High School, has been 
described as a "dynamo.'' An excellent student and musician, she also 
serves as Senior Class Vice-President and has been involved in the 
planning of several school events, including a candlelight vigil to 
commemorate the victims of the tragic events of September 11th, the 
freshman orientation and the homecoming dance.
  Emilia Cerrillo was also responsible for setting critical school 
policies. As a student representative to the Shared Decision-Making 
Site Council, Emilia worked with administrators, faculty, staff, 
parents and other students to ensure that all necessary voices were 
heard while the group formulated school policies. Emilia has also had a 
major role in the Compass Success program and served as a mentor and 
role model to encourage other minority students to stay in honors 
classes.

[[Page 756]]

  Emilia's success has not been confined to the halls of Menlo-Atherton 
High School. As a participant in the Amigos de Las Americas program in 
Brazil, she met with health workers and participated in important 
infrastructure building in Brazil. Emilia was also a participant in the 
Global Visionaries program in Guatemala where she helped to build a 
house with the Common Hope Project.
  Emilia's achievements are just the beginning of what we can expect 
from this extraordinary talented and dedicated student. As the student 
recipient of the Sequoia Award, she has been awarded a $5,000 
scholarship.
  Mr. Speaker, the second Sequoia Award winner is Mr. Vincent 
Truscelli. A lifelong resident of California, Vincent has lived in 
Redwood City for the past 50 years and has been involved with numerous 
community organizations. He was recently awarded an Honorary Life 
Membership by the Roosevelt School's Parent Teacher Association for his 
outstanding volunteer work with the school's annual carnival and for 
his dedication in introducing young students to baseball, basketball 
and track. Vincent was also the one of the first volunteer lunch yard 
supervisors at Roosevelt, allowing the teachers of the school to have a 
real lunch break, while children played after lunch.
  Vincent Truscelli has also been involved in numerous organizations 
including the YMCA, the St. Pius Church Men's Club and the Redwood City 
Transportation Committee, where he received the Distinguished Service 
Award for his proposal on how to lay out the bus routes in Redwood 
City.
  Vincent is best known for producing large-scale fund raising dinners. 
He and his wife have cooked for the Native Daughters of the Golden West 
Plaque Program, the Rotary Club's Irish night, Pets in Need, The 
American Legion, the Sons of Italy, the Redwood City Parks, Recreation 
and Community Service Department, and the Red Morton Fund raising 
project.
  Mr. Truscelli has been a member of numerous clubs and organizations 
that aid the community including the AARP, the American Legion, the 
Kiwanis Club, the Lions Club, the Chamber of Commerce, the Fun After 
Fifty Club, Sons of Italy, and many more. He was also the Chairman of 
the Veteran's Memorial Senior Center Advisory Board and still serves on 
its board. Vincent was also the Bingo Manager for the Senior Center, 
which funds the Senior Center's nutrition program, computer classes and 
their exercise program. He also donates his time to assist needy senior 
citizens with home repairs. Vincent has continuously given selflessly 
of himself for many years and is a deserving recipient of the Sequoia 
Award.
  Mr. Speaker, the final Sequoia Award recipient this year is 
Electronic Arts, a firm that is recognized for its role as a good 
corporate citizen. Generous contributions from Electronic Arts have 
helped strengthen communities in Redwood City and throughout the Bay 
Area. In just this past year, Electronic Arts provided grants and 
charitable donations to Redwood City totaling more than $70,000. Among 
the organizations benefitting from Electronic Arts' generosity were The 
Day Top Family Association (a residential therapeutic community for 
drug-addicted teens), Sequoia YMCA, the Redwood City Drug Abuse 
Resistance Education, the Redwood Family House, Sandpiper Elementary 
School and the Heron Court Neighborhood Network in Redwood Shores. 
Electronic Arts is also a proud sponsor of the Sequoia Hospital 
Foundation donating both money as well as video and computer games to 
the Hospital.
  The good works of Electronic Arts are supported by the hardworking 
employees. Several of Electronic Arts' executives serve on volunteer 
boards for the Sequoia YMCA, Community Gatepath, Mid Peninsula Boys and 
Girls Club, Day Top Family Association and the Chamber of Commerce, to 
name a few. Electronic Arts also assists the Special Olympics by 
providing coaches, timekeepers, and scorers for the various events, and 
host an annual fund raiser. Over 100 employees of the company and their 
families donated their time to help build a new fence and paint the 
Redwood House group home in Redwood City. The charitable acts of 
Electronic Arts are greatly appreciated throughout the Bay Area.
  Mr. Speaker, these two outstanding individuals, and this corporation 
are recipients of the Sequoia Award because of their continued selfless 
efforts in our community. I hope that their actions can be a guide for 
all of us. I urge my colleagues to join me in paying in tribute to 
Emilia Cerrillo, Vincent Truscelli and Electronic Arts, recipients of 
Redwood City's 2002 Sequoia Award.

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