Listen to this article
Red Shield director honored in Los Angeles.
by Robert Brennan –
At the Pioneer Women breakfast reception and awards presentation held recently at the Los Angeles City Hall, Irene Lewis, executive director of The Salvation Army’s Red Shield Youth and Community Center, received a Pioneer Women Award for her years of dedicated community service.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a frequent visitor to the Red Shield Youth and Community Center, personally presented the award to Lewis.
Sponsoring the award was the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women, established in 1975 to assure all women the opportunity for full and equal participation in the affairs of city government while promoting the general welfare of women in the Los Angeles community.
Lewis has worked with thousands of young girls who have gone through the various athletic, academic, and enrichment programs at the Red Shield. She is a community leader and a role model for girls as they mature and take their own places of responsibility here in the “city of angels.”
Because March was Women’s History Month, the Office of the Mayor and the Los Angeles City Council, in conjunction with the Los Angeles City Commission on the Status of Women, honored 16 women who have made outstanding contributions to the strength, vitality and enrichment of Los Angeles.
The Pioneer Women Awards were created in 1988 to recognize the accomplishments of women in the city of Los Angeles. To receive the award, women must meet one or more of several criteria including improving the community’s education, business, sports, arts, science, and health.