Armando Diaz Honored

Venice Patch is proud to announce that Armando Diaz, an unsung hero who has been a relentless advocate for children and families in Venice, has been chosen as the Venice Patch 2011 Person of the Year.Diaz, who is the associate executive director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Venice, received 303 of the 643 votes (47 percent) cast in our unscientific poll. Diaz formerly served as the president of the Playa Venice Rotary Club and also is a member of the Venice Chamber of Commerce. 

His nominator said that Diaz is a "tireless advocate" for children and families in Venice and often works long hours attending meetings to gain support for programs for young children and teens. He has helped secure funding for after-school programs at Venice High School, such as band, tutoring and after-school fitness and also has spearheaded the partnership between the Boys & Girls Club and Mark Twain Middle Schol to provide after-school programming.

He also has helped with an arts program that sees youth artwork from Boys & Girls Club participants displayed at the monthly Venice Art Crawl.

Diaz also will be honored later this month with a Community Leader award from the Boys & Girls Club of Venice, which recognizes exceptional volunteerism and long-standing support of the club.