City honors Dr. Pandya Foundation
Spearheaded Veteran’s Park Trail Bench Project
The City of Porterville, together with the Dr. Pandya Family Foundation, held a ribbon cutting Tuesday morning celebrating the 23 benches that were installed around the park.
“This is an extra special day,” said Donnie Moore, the city’s parks and leisure services director. “Opening up a new facility or adding some amenities to an existing facility doesn’t happen very often and so this is a day we definitely need to celebrate.”
Moore said the benches are a result of the Porterville Veteran’s Park Trail Bench Project, which he said was spearheaded by the Dr. Pandya Family Foundation.
“On behalf of the City of Porterville Parks and Leisure Services Department, I would like to thank the Dr. Pandya Family Foundation for spearheading this fantastic bench campaign and all the other donors who purchased one of the benches you see here at the park,” Moore said.
Moore said the Dr. Pandya Family Foundation pledged $10,000 toward the project for benches along the trail. Moore said community members can commemorate a loved one, celebrate a special occasion or show support for the community’s park by making a taxdeductible donation and sponsoring a bench.
Twila Moore and her husband Roger Moore are one of several in the community who have sponsored a bench.
Twila Moore said she and her husband decided to dedicate a bench in memory of their daughter, Christie Gurrola, who died in a car accident back in 2004. She was 24.
At the time of her death, Gurrola was employed as a student teacher at Burton Elementary School.
“This [Veterans Park] was one of her favorite places,” Twila Moore said. “Having the bench where it is at is a blessing, it is a celebration of the life she lived to the fullest and it is just a blessing to us. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Donna Steigleder dedicated a bench in honor of her father, Dr. Charles Taylor, who died in 2011. He was 86.
Taylor served the greater Porterville area as a family practice physician for 56 years.
“We shared him with
the community and we are very happy and proud to share him with the community in this way as well,” said Steigleder, the youngest of Taylor’s five children. “He would be so happy that something in his memory is providing comfort and respite for people in the town he loved and gave his life to.”
Sandy Achterberg, the president of 20-Ands, dedicated a bench for the local club, which is dissolving this month. The club has been established since 1941.
“We are fortunate to have our bench right here under this nice oak tree and hopefully everybody will always remember the 20-Ands club for what we’ve done for our community for all of these years,” Achterberg said.
Out of the 23 benches currently at the park, 11 were made possible by donors in the community.
The rest were donated by the Dr. Pandya Family Foundation.
Mayor Milt Stowe said it is nice to have something in the park that is “meant to be there.”
“All these benches are wonderful,” Stowe said, adding that benches and other similar park amenities help build better and more livable communities. “Our visitors will reap physical, mental and social health benefits by providing opportunities to strengthen family bonds, promote cultural diversity and understanding, and stimulate greater acceptance of others.”
Dr. Gaurang Pandya said he was inspired to help improve Veterans Park years ago while he was going for a walk with some of his patients as part of the national program Walk with a Doc.
“Some of the members
that were walking with us said that if you had some benches then some older folks can walk, sit down, talk and things like that,” Pandya said. “Years later, we worked on getting the benches together.”
To honor his work, Rogelio Caudillo, a district representative for Senator Andy Vidak (R-hanford), presented two recognitions on behalf of Vidak and also on behalf of Assemblyman Devon Mathis (Rvisalia).
“First I would like to present recognition to the Pandya Family Foundation for their campaign to make these benches and this whole project possible,” said Caudillo, who also presented recognitions to the City of Porterville.
Moore said he hopes to see community members “out here enjoying this trail and these benches for years to come.”