Yvette Perez of the Kiwanis Club receives President’s Volunteer Service Award

June 27, 2024

Yvette Perez, treasurer of the Kiwanis Club of Homestead-South Dade, one of South Florida’s most active nonprofit organizations, was recently honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award, one of the most prestigious volunteer awards in the country.

Perez, a Kiwanis member for three years and honored at the ceremony in Oklahoma City for her 12 years of service with the Coast Guard Auxiliary, was not expecting the award.

“I was quite surprised to receive this prestigious award,” said Perez. “I received the Medal of Merit the day before the graduation gala, but was stunned – almost speechless – when my name was announced as the winner of the President’s Award at the gala.”

For Air Force Captain Arnold Perez, president of the Kiwanis Club of Homestead, the honor was no surprise.

“My mother was always willing to volunteer and help, no matter what it was,” he said. “She’s always there, pitching in and ready to help.”

The reason for this willingness to help?

“My children – and now my grandchildren – see my example,” said Perez, who was an elementary school teacher in Miami-Dade County Public Schools for 31 years. “And the hope is that they will follow the same path.”

Clearly, Perez’s example has worked, as she has taught her three adult children the importance of volunteerism and a sense of duty.

In addition to Captain Perez, his daughter Marlene is in the U.S. Navy and his daughter Alexandra is married to an Air Force JAG officer. And Perez’s granddaughters can be found helping out at a variety of Kiwanis events.

“Kiwanis is an important part of my life,” said Perez, who in addition to serving as treasurer also runs the club’s book distribution program, Just One Book. Over the past three years, the club has given away more than 3,500 books to underprivileged children.

“By helping children, feeding them, providing them with school supplies and recognizing their efforts to get better grades, you show them that they matter, that they are important and that someone cares about them.”

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