Food and Friends to Honor Frontline Workers at Upcoming Gala

metroweekly.com:

Food & Friends will honor eight local frontline workers at its “Honoring Our Heroes” gala, which will be held on June 13 at the Marriott Marquis in Washington’s Mount Vernon Square neighborhood.

The eight award recipients – whose ranks include doctors, nurses, firefighters, chefs, teachers, and other community leaders – are being celebrated for their work and commitment to keeping the Washington Metro area safe and operational during the darkest days of the pandemic.The honorees are: Chief Oluwafunmike Omasere, the Battalion Chief of DC Fire and EMS; Chefs Teresa Padilla and Geraldine Mendoza, the co-founders of Taqueria Xochi; Dominique Foster, the 2022 D.C.

Teacher of the Year and a community organizer at Friendship Public Charter School; Alvin Chen and Jeffrey Naber, two volunteers with Food & Friends; Reba Miller, an ICU nurse at Inova Mount Vernon Hospital; and Dr.

Bruno Petinaux, the chief medical officer at George Washington University Hospital. “In unique ways, each of these leaders embodies the spirit of Food & Friends’ commitment to providing life-sustaining nourishment to our neighbors in need,” Jay Shepley, the communications director for Food & Friends, said in a statement. “As individuals, they touched the lives and elevated the spirits of community members across the region.