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Concerned Parents group celebrates 10th anniversary

Standard-Speaker - 6/17/2018

June 17--HAZLETON -- The Concerned Parents of the Hazleton Area celebrated its 10th anniversary Saturday afternoon at the Hazleton One Community Center.

The event brought dozens to reflect on the group's achievements over the past decade and to honor Dr. Gary Lawler, the 2018 recipient of the Concerned Parents' Humanitarian Award.

The all-volunteer group was formed to promote the importance of education.

And since its inception, co-founder Elaine Maddon Curry noted that it has been teaching English as a second language classes to adults. To date, she estimates that 1,000 have enrolled in the English courses.

The all-volunteer organization also helps people with Spanish, holds a reading class each Saturday and offers computer classes.

Perhaps most important of all, Curry said, the Concerned Parents has helped 250 individuals get their U.S. citizenship.

"They are so proud of becoming an American citizen that they bring in their certificates to show us. We always take their photos," Curry said.

As the ceremony was underway, photos of those who recently received citizenship certificates were shown on a large monitor. Other activities were also featured on the big screen, including the mural the group created at the Pine Street Playground in Hazleton, the group's community service projects and prior Humanitarian Award winners.

Lawler, a member of the Concerned Parents, is chancellor of Penn State Hazleton and was honored for the impact he has made on the community. Lawler was instrumental in writing the Concerned Parents' mission statement and in guiding the organization through its formative years. He helped implement the group's advocacy work in education, and serves on a number of other community organizations.

Chris Pavlick presented Lawler and the Concerned Parents with citations from state Rep. Tarah Toohil, R-116, Butler Twp.

Jose Rodriguez, a founding member, opened and closed the ceremony, and noted that the community is comprised of people of all ethnicities.

"We have people from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. We have Irish, German, Italian, Russian, Polish and Chinese. This is Hazleton. This is what we are. We are a bouquet of different colors. We are a bouquet of different nationalities. But we put them together and it's so colorful," Rodriguez said.

He said the Concerned Parents has achieved much over the past 10 years, and promised more to come.

"We have more ideas and we will become even more colorful," he added.

During the celebration, Concerned Parents President Niurka De la Rosa remembered the late William Martinez, who died in May. Martinez was a Concerned Parents volunteer.

While he was on board, Martinez helped newcomers adjust to the community, helped them with translations and directed them to services.

To volunteer or register for classes, call Concerned Parents at 570-459-6086.

Contact the writer: jwhalen@standard

speaker.com; 570-501-3592

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