On December 14, 2020, during a City Council meeting through videoconferencing, Daly City Mayor Glenn Sylvester presented a philanthropic award to the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ), a first of its kind in the city.

He declared, “This year I’m proud and honored to give the ‘Philanthropic Organization of the Year’ to Felix Y. Manalo (FYM) Foundation. This organization provides aid to humanity in a number of ways. For the Daly City, that meant bridging the digital divide within our community, especially stricken by this pandemic was our youth and our most vulnerable, our seniors. It was more than fitting to recognize the FYM Foundation as 2020’s Philanthropic Organization of the Year.”

On behalf of the Church and its Administration, Brother Esteban Inocencio, Northwest California Ecclesiastical District supervising minister formally, albeit virtually, accepted the award from the function hall of the house of worship of the Local Congregation of Burlingame.

Brother Inocencio said, “We are truly honored to receive this award. We attribute that, all of the success and triumph of the Church, is because of the miraculous hand of the Almighty God, [through] the dynamic leadership of our Executive Minister, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo. We will continue to assist this wonderful city in its socio-civic works to help humanity through our Aid to Humanity programs.”

Through its humanitarian arm, the FYM Foundation, Inc., the Church members conducts Aid to Humanity to reach out to people affected by poverty and calamities, in compliance with biblical teachings on Christian charity.

Mayor Sylvester was able to attend some of the Church’s humanitarian efforts in Daly City, such as the Aid to Humanity held there last October 31 wherein the mayor himself received the 80 laptops the Church donated for the community. On the same day, he witnessed the Aid to Humanity in Pacifica, Daly’s neighboring city. There the Church donated $10,000 to the Terra Nova Education Foundation, and over 30 laptops for students living in their area.

That among other recent Aid to Humanity events amid the pandemic all the more prompted the mayor to present the award to the Church. He said in an interview, “What I found special about Iglesia Ni Cristo is the willingness of the entire congregation to reach out for any needs that our city has, whether be youth volunteerism, speaking with seniors, to do cleanup in the streets. Iglesia Ni Cristo has offered to do that for us. And I’m so proud I have that additional resource that I would use judiciously.” — With reports from INC News Section