PRESS RELEASE:

Vice Chairman Doug Chaffee Announces 6th Annual Fourth District Kindness Award Honorees

Buena Park, CA. (November 14, 2024) – Vice Chairman Doug Chaffee, Orange County Fourth District Supervisor announced the 6th Annual Fourth District Kindness Awards honorees during a ceremony held on Wednesday, November 13, 2024 at the Elher's Event Center. The emcee for the program was Dr. Jose Moreno, former Anaheim City Councilmember, District 3.

Following the Former Mayor Tom Tait’s initiative to encourage acts of kindness in the City of Anaheim, Vice Chairman Chaffee recognizes Kindness Award honorees from each City in the Fourth District who have made significant contributions to their communities through kindness. The Kindness Awards ceremony is hosted annually on November 13, which is internationally observed as World Kindness Day. Kindness is simply helping someone else without any expectation of getting something in return.

"It is especially important for us to acknowledge kindness wherever we can find it and inspire others to perform their own acts of kindness in the community," said Vice Chairman Chaffee. "Our Kindness Award honorees have risen to the challenge and have gone beyond that to ensure the needs of our communities are met." 

The honorees for the 6th Annual Fourth District Kindness Awards are: 

• City of Anaheim: Nicou Azaran
• City of Brea: Zelda Makanaaloha Preston
• City of Buena Park: Sam Yoon
• City of Fullerton: Dylan Wang
• City of La Habra: Virginia Wyckoff
• City of Placentia: Alice Shiozawa
• City of Stanton: Tony and Bivianne Munguia

Vice Chairman Chaffee also awarded Mike Oates, former Fullerton Rotary President, with the Honorary Kindness Award. 

Nicou Azaran is an independent living skills and outreach instructor at the Braille Institute in Anaheim. She goes above and beyond to provide individualized attention to each students and advocate for better services for them in the community. Nicou organizes and conducts free workshops, offering valuable support to visually impaired individuals and their families.

Zelda Makanaaloha Preston is a freshman at Fullerton Union High School. She is an active volunteer at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Fullerton. Since the age of seven, Zelda has used each birthday to perform an act of kindness, through donations of clothes, shoes, toys, and other necessities to local nonprofits. This past birthday she collected 291 pounds of food for the Hub of Hope food pantry. 

Sam Yoon's journey began with a background in music, studying pipe organ and choral conducting in Korea and the United States. In 2021, he founded Seesaw Communities to support adults with development disabilities. Seesaw Communities provides vocational training, helping participants find their unique voices and abilities. Under his leadership, the organization has become a leader in providing integrated employment opportunities and fostering more inclusive workplaces. 

Dylan Wang is a Troy High School senior who combines his passion for technology with community services. During his free time on weekends and summers, Dylan volunteers at Happy Adult Daycare and spends time with seniors. This experience has taught him the unique challenges seniors face and inspired him to fix it with technology. Dylan developed an iPad application that employs augmented reality (AR) technology to assist seniors in translating English to their native language and he also designed a night-time medical monitoring device that alerts family members on their elderly loved ones health status. 

Virginia Wyckoff started her career as a teacher's aide with the La Habra School District. When she retired she began volunteering at the Children's Museum at La Habra. After her grandson's passing, she created a wishing well at the museum in his memories, and all the funds from the well are used to help local schools visit. She never misses an opportunity to volunteer and help the museum grow. 

Alice Shiozawa has been a Rotary Club of Placentia member since 2015 and is currently serving her second term as president of Placentia Rotary. Her involvement with Rotary has kept her active as well expanding her awareness of issues facing the community. Through the Rotary, she has been involved in neighborhood clean-ups, organizing the “stuffing” of and distributing school backpacks, preparing of hygiene kits and holiday gift packs, and other important community projects. Alice believes the little things count and are the most meaningful to those in need. 

Tony and Bivianne Munguia, father and daughter duo are both students at Cypress College. On their way to an event, they noticed smoke coming from a nearby house. Stopping to offer assistance, Tony went into the house to see if the resident was home, while his daughter called 9-1-1. With the help of another individual, Tony was able to help the resident exit the inflamed house. Due to their quick thinking, they helped save the life of the resident and stop further damage to the home. 

Mike Oates is a pillar of the Fullerton community, known for his years of service and commitment to local organizations. He has deep ties in helping the youth as a former Boys and Girls Club volunteer and a coach at Golden Hill Little League. He continued his service as president of Fullerton Rotary Club and the Fullerton's Sister City Association. Mike's commitment is also shown through his numerous volunteer hours to Crittenton Services as a Board member and his fundraising efforts. Mike's energy and passion for service has been unwavering, leaving a lasting impact to those he has served. 

The honorees from the Fourth District cities were nominated by members of the community. The applications were independently scored by the following distinguished judges:

• The Honorable Tom Tait, former Mayor of Anaheim.
• Charles Barfield, the General Manager of the Orange County Employees Association (OCEA).
• Rosalina Davis, owner of Tlaquepaque restaurant.
• Christian Esteban, Project Manager of Store One.
• Lorena Moreno, Principal at Western High School.

After the judges scored the applications, the applicant with the highest score in each City in the Fourth District was selected as an honoree.

To learn more about our 6th Annual Fourth District Kindness Award honorees and their acts of exceptional kindness, please view their videos here.

To view all the photos from the ceremony, please click here.

The 7th Annual Fourth District Kindness Awards will be hosted on November 13, 2025.

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Orange County Supervisor Doug Chaffee represents the Fourth District, which includes the Cities of Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, Placentia, Stanton, portions of Anaheim, and unincorporated communities.