2021 Hometown Heroes

Tina Kapoor

Submitted by Mayor Lily Mei

I am a mother of two lovely children - Niel and Sean, and I'm also a proud member of the wonderful Economic Development team at the City of Fremont.

Being a parent of two young boys, and working in the fast-paced innovative environment at the City is extremely challenging and rewarding. I'm motivated by many different factors, not the least of which is that I am deeply rooted here in my long-time, beautiful hometown of Fremont.

The last year and a half challenged us all in many different ways. The pandemic has changed me professionally and personally. Through this experience, I am even more deeply committed to making Fremont the best and most inclusive place it can possibly be.

During these last 18 months, I have been involved in supporting our local small business, and workforce development programs. Two of the programs that I spearheaded were Gift Fremont and Earn and Learn Fremont (ELF). These programs stand out because they are innovative, bold, and most importantly have made a significant impact on those who most needed the support.

The Gift Fremont program gave 50 of our small businesses exposure to more customers and provided a digital marketing opportunity during the pandemic. The Earn and Learn Fremont pilot is the first-ever partnership between Industry (Evolve Manufacturing), Academia (Ohlone College), and Government (City of Fremont Economic Development, Human Services Department, local workforce boards) to help low-income, COVID-displaced workers pivot to better paying careers in advanced manufacturing, The pilot saw a veteran, a local unhoused individual, and women go through the program and land full time jobs in manufacturing at local company.

I am very honored to receive the Fremont hometown hero award and would like to offer my sincere appreciation to the July 4th Parade Committee. As I receive this award, I want to recognize the significant contributions of the many great partners, companies, and individuals who equally share the deep desire and commitment in making Fremont shine.

Sandy Stabile

(Submitted by Fremont Councilmember Rick Jones)

I have always been involved in volunteering.
It started back in my Girl Scout days.
I am a Critical Care/ER retired RN.

About 20 years ago I started volunteering on international service trips that were sponsored by Rotary. I was part of a surgical team that went to developing countries to do cleft lip and cleft palate repairs for children in need. I have travelled to Nicaragua, Guatemala, Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru, China, India and Myanmar to name a few. I saw amazing work that Rotary does around the world and in their own communities. About 8 years ago I decided I wanted to get more involved in my own community and joined Rotary.

Through Rotary I met Jasmine and Gary Basrai.

I was already familiar with Haller's pharmacy and it's emphasis on our community. When the Covid vaccines became available, Jasmine called me and asked if I would like to help give Covid vaccines. I jumped at the chance to help my community by administering vaccines and educating people on the pandemic. The collaboration with Haller's and the Fremont Fire Department was a match made in heaven.

I am proud to say that I was part of a group that gave over 22,000 doses to our community. I met so many wonderful volunteers. One day we gave close to 1000 doses.

I have lived in Fremont for 38 years and am proud to call it home.

Kate Bernstein Amon

Submitted by Councilmember Teresa Keng

Kate Bernstein Amon has lived in the Bay Area all her life. She got her engineering degree from UC Berkeley then went to work in the Silicon Valley in the semiconductor industry. She met her husband Lee Amon in 1992 at her first half marathon and a year after their wedding in 1994 they moved to Fremont to settle down and start a family, a son and a daughter. The couple started a business in 2002, Kate's Caring Gifts, an organic fair trade gift business that was certified as a Bay Area Green Business. It had a successful run for twelve years.

Together Lee and Kate's community contributions started with neighborhood efforts like Community Emergency Response Team and leadership roles. Kate has served as a leader for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and is the Neighborhood Watch captain for her street. In 2005 she rallied her neighbors to carry on Crippsmas Place tradition after founder Robert "Spider" Cantley moved away. They created Crippsmas Club to promote community chairity and childhood joy. They have raised thousands of dollars for charities every year for orgs like SAVE, HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, Adopt an Angel, Ohlone Wildlife Rehab and Fremont Family Resource Center. Kate personally delivers a welcome gift to new neighbors so they feel included and encouraged to be involved in their community.

Xinge Hu

Submitted by Councilmember Yang Shao

Xinge Hu’s profession history includes being a Physician (TPMG) at Kaiser Fremont Medical Center in Fremont. Her resume includes:

• Fellow, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, UCSF

• Fellow, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago

• Resident, Department of Internal Medicine, Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, IL

• Intern, Department of Internal Medicine, Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center, Chicago, IL

Her educational history includes:

• Fellow of American College of Cardiology

• Ph.D., Physiology and Biophysics, University of Miami, Miami, FL

• M.D., Department of Clinical Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Her Volunteer work lists:

• Organizing community fund raising and other efforts to secure and distribute PPE’s for Fremont hospital’s, Fire Departments and Police Department, and 20+ other hospitals in Bay Area, NYC, and Boston area when the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic hit here,

• Secretary for the Chinese American Heart Association Executive Board,

• Treasurer, VP fund raising, VP membership for the Mission San Jose High School MPPFA Executive Board.

Vinita Verma

Submitted by Councilmember Jenny Kassan

Vinita Verma has been an active member and leader in the Fremont community for over 15 years and has raised two successful daughters in Fremont. Her advocacy work spans from organizing for equity in education to advocating for the Homeless Navigation Center in Fremont to partnering with organizations to promote environmentalism through individual and government action.

She was recently awarded the Outstanding Advocacy Award by the Alameda County Tobacco Control coalition for her exceptional work advocating for the Tobacco Retail License and Flavored Tobacco Product Bans in Fremont, its neighboring cities and counties, and at the California State level. In her recent role of Fremont Council PTA President, Vinita expanded the Council’s involvement in school district policy and advocacy, serving on multiple committees and providing recommendations to promote mental health and a smoother transition into online learning for students.

Vinita plans on continuing her advocacy work towards health and equity at local and state levels and with legislative actions through California state PTA.

Ethan Ye

Submitted by Councilmember Teresa Cox

It is indeed my honor and pleasure to present Ethan Ye as our Fremont District 6 Hometown Hero.

Ethan Ye is a rising senior at Irvington High School in Fremont, CA. He was thoroughly inspired after hearing his mother’s experience of growing up in Vietnam facing period poverty while prioritizing her family over her own health needs.

Ethan is the founder of Students Against Period Poverty known as SAPP. This organization is a student-run organization that has made a monumental difference in their communities’ menstrual health.

Under Ethan’s leadership, SAPP has collected over 22,000 menstrual products, fundraising about $8,000, 160 volunteers, and expanded to 7 SAPP student chapters in Fremont, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Milpitas, and Nigeria. He has also created a daily grab-n-go menstrual item pickups at schools.

It is my distinct honor to highly recommend Ethan Ye for 2021 Hometown Hero Award at the July 4th Porch Parade Awards Ceremony.

Anh Le

Submitted by Councilmember Raj Salwan

My husband, auntie, Joanna S., and I made 6 thousand masks during the shutdown. We donated to all first liners, community, nursing homes and homeless.

With the money donated I was able to help with BACS, distribute lunches to the homeless community couple of times, Feed the Homeless in Fremont, Kidango (non privileged families) couple of times, donated money to many places and disasters that needed at the time. There is much more that i did, but don’t want this to be confused with doing things for for reputation.

My husband and I own Polished Beauty Lounge in Fremont. During the pandemic we had to close our doors for 8 months and was lucky to stay afloat due to my husband’s job. We were able to use that time to help others by sewing masks. We recently moved to Fremont a year before the pandemic and found this community is very amazing!

We are grateful to be part of Fremont community.