For Dr. Stella Evangelista who has spent her life doing much for others, success has nothing to do with what you have gained in life or accomplished for yourself. It is measured by what you do for others.
Born in Cebu City, Dr. Evangelista has been an outstanding student, graduating with honors in elementary and high school. She obtained her B.S. in pre-medicine magna cum laude from the Cebu Institute of Technology. She later moved to Manila and enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas - College of Medicine, where she graduated benemeritus. In 1968, she, together with her husband, Dr. Jose Evangelista, left for the United States to take up post-graduate studies.
After earning her diplomate in Pediatrics in 1987, Dr. Evangelista was appointed member of the Michigan State Board of Medicine by Michigan Governor James Blanchard—a rare distinction and honor, she being the first Asian to be appointed to that prestigious body. Dr. Evangelista practiced in Livonia for 25 years where she was Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at St. Mary Hospital for several years. She is currently the Administrator and Medical Director of Maple Manor Assisted Living and Maple Manor Rehabilitation Center, a 40-bed sub-acute care skilled nursing facility in Michigan.
Despite the relatively comfortable life afforded by a stable career and a successful family business in the US, Dr. Evangelista chose to be involved in many civic, as well as philanthropic, activities. She has chaired numerous fundraising activities such as the first Henry Ford Hospice Annual Fundraising, the City of Hope Charity Dinner, the Asian American Journalists Association Scholarship Drive, the Philippine Earthquake Relief Drive, and the Mt. Pinatubo Eruption Disaster Funds. In addition, she assisted the founding of the Cabalen Care Foundation with a $25,000.00 donation to support medical missions and scholarships for underprivileged people in Pampanga.
Through her leadership, professional competence and commitment to the welfare of Filipino physicians in the United States, Dr. Evangelista led many professional and community organizations in the US. In 1993, she became the first woman physician elected to the Presidency of the Association of Philippine Physicians in America (APPA). As President of the APPA, she was able to raise $50,000.00 to support the International Kiwanis Foundation’s program of eradicating iodine deficiency in the Philippines; sponsor numerous medical missions to the Philippines; and ship a container load of medical/surgical supplies to Cebu City.
Through the help of generous donors and her able leadership of the University of Santo Tomas Medical Alumni Association in America (USTMAAA), and its Foundation, the USTMAAA endowment fund (now at over $2.6 million) continues to grow and is now a success model for other medical alumni associations in America. The organization has distributed grants totaling $1 million in building improvements, research grants, medical equipment, scholarships and faculty development. It has provided support for indigent patients through funding of Lingkod ER, St. Cosmas and Damian Indigency Trust Fund, as well as funding for the annual medical/surgical missions of the USTMAAA and the Save-a-Sight and Save-a-Heart in-house missions at the UST Hospital. In addition, the USTMAAA also has an on-going partnership with Gawad Kalinga to finance the building of a village with 100 houses in Bulacan.
Behind Dr. Evangelista’s success as a physician, role-model, and community leader, are her six children and loving husband, Dr. Jose L. Evangelista, who is also an active philanthropist and civic leader.
Last 2006, President Macapagal Arroyo presented Dr. Stella Evangelista with the prestigious Presidential Award for Outstanding Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas. She also conferred the Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino Award to Dr. Evangelista, recognizing her effective leadership and unselfish dedication to community service through her various charitable missions and activities and her exceptional achievements and unprecedented efforts to help Filipinos overseas.
( Published on January 28, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. B3 )
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