HISPANIC AND VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS TO BE HONORED BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY
SANTA ANA – District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will honor the office’s Government and Community Relations Unit volunteers who have spent hundreds of hours working to educate immigrants about the criminal justice system. Three of the volunteers will receive special awards during a luncheon at 12:30 PM on Thursday at the District Attorney’s Office, 401 Civic Center Drive, Santa Ana.
Rackauckas began the Government and Community Relations Unit shortly after he took office in 1999. The outreach program of the unit has grown to include about 60 volunteers who attend various community events where they distribute literature and answer questions about the resources available to them in the criminal justice system. The volunteers take surveys about the questions and concerns Hispanic and Vietnamese immigrants may have about reporting crime or their participation as victims or witnesses in criminal cases. The program is partially funded by a federal grant.
Between July 1999 and June 2000, volunteers donated more than 1,400 hours of their time, at savings to the county of $17,084. The top three people who donated the most hours will receive a special award. They are Mario Gonzalez of Orange with 131 hours and husband and wife team Nasario and Eileen Solis with 126 and 121 hours respectively.