Peace Islands Institute’s 6th Annual Award Ceremony and 10th Year Anniversary was held on June 2, 2012 at the Pleasantdale Chateau in West Orange. Over 200 guests and many dignitaries joined PII to applaud accomplishments of the honorees and celebrate PII’s 10th year Anniversary
Peace Islands Awards 2013 Honorees
Education Award: Senator Teresa Ruiz – District 29
Community Service Award: Essex County Prosecutors Office – Carolyn A. Murray
Media Award: Kathleen O’Brien, Star Ledger
Peace and understanding Award: Fr. Philip Latronico- Executive Secretary of the Archdiocesan Commission of Inter religious Affairs
Business Award: Philip Kirschner – President New Jersey Business & Industry Association
Special Recognition Award: Dr. Levent Koc – Former Director of PII
Master of Ceremonies: Victor Herlinksy – member of the firm Sills Cummins & Gross, PC
Peace Islands Executive Director Ercan Tozan welcomed the guests.
HONOREES
Kathleen O’Brien – Media Award
O’Brien shared her gratitude towards the PII for recognizing the importance of the media and helping us understand each other better. O’Brien acknowledges the effort of the PP for helping others to understand the religion and politics of other countries.
Philip Kirschner – Business Award
Philip K.rischner mentioned of the desire to bring people together by STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics). He insists on wanting to bring schools and businesses together and underlines the importance of knowledge and education. He touches on the point that PII acknowledges the two aspects of business and education in order to bring people together.
Father Philip Latronico – Peace and Understanding Award
As a spirited young adult, he began exploring different cultures and communities. He says, “Tonight when PII honors each and everyone one of us, we all have one thing in common: each and everyone of us gather together in peace”. He emphasizes the mission of the PII and thanks them very much for knocking on his door ten years ago. It is an experience he cherishes and shares his award of peace and understanding for us to be peaceful people everyday of our lives.
Sen Teresa Ruiz – Education Award
Thanks the PII for recognizing great individuals. Teresa Ruiz mentions how PII is important to bringing us opportunities to understanding each other and that the “picture” of this country is hope and opportunity.
Dr. Levent Koc – Special Recognition Award
Dr. Koc expresses his inspiration by Fetullah Gulen who is an honoree of the PII. The other point he mentions is the diverse community the PII and the importance of diversity by sharing a life experience. He shares his introduction to Father Philip and how meeting another person was a great moment in his life: it opened more doors for the future.
At the end of the program there were some remarks from the following dignitaries.
Ed Dickson – Director of Homeland Security
Thanks the PII for bringing people from all different walks of life together. As the homeland security advisor for Gov. Christie, he mentions the experiences he shares of common challenges with PII.
Senator Robert Gordon
Wishes PII all the best and thanks their effort for bringing everyone together and promoting peace and understanding.
Asw Annete Quijano
States the importance of having the opportunity to have a partnership with the PII. She says, “People with different walks of life can just simply sit and talk together get to get to know others and learn more about a person”.
We thank everyone for celebrating our 10th Year Anniversary, It was an unforgettable night.
Pictures from the Event:
