Human Relations Commission Names Humanitarian Award Recipient

The Ames Human Relations Commission selected Maria Celeste Gonzalez Chaves to receive its 2023 Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes and honors a worthy individual or program whose contributions to the Ames community demonstrate extraordinary quality, especially in efforts to promote diversity, inclusion, and equity. Wayne Clinton, vice chair of the Human Relations Commission, presented the award at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration held Monday, Jan. 16.

The annual celebration also included announcement of the winner of the 2023 MLK Essay Contest winner. Taryn Hicks, a freshman at Gilbert High School, won for her essay entitled "1950s Protesting vs. Today."

Chaves actively promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion with her extensive engagement with the Latinx community. She serves as a Spanish interpreter for social workers with Mid-Iowa Community Action and Ames and Gilbert schools. Chaves also helps as a "go-to" person for the Latinx community to identify needs for health, education, food, shelter, and proper identification for economic transactions such as opening bank accounts. In addition, she has supported multicultural events that celebrate diversity at Fellows Elementary, Ames Middle School, and Iowa State University, and has organized the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebration for the Department of World Languages and Cultures at ISU for over five years.

As noted in the application nominating Chaves for this award, "Celeste's work makes Ames a better, safer, and more welcoming place to live and raise family. Her engagement with the Ames youth (from newborns to college students) promotes better learning outcomes, better health outcomes, a much better understanding among people of different backgrounds and interests, strengthening the fabric of our society and improving the lives of the people of Iowa."

From left, Mayor John Haila, Humanitarian Award winner Maria Celeste Gonzalez Chaves, Ames Human Relations Commission Vice Chair Wayne Clinton, and Councilmember Anita Rollins.

MLK Celebration Committee Chair Vanessa Baker-Latimer, left, and MLK Essay Contest winner Taryn Hicks.