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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA, January 10, 2004: The son of migrant workers who now helps the underserved and uninsured get services, and Hindu twins who created a program to teach tolerance, will be honored Monday, January 12, as Diversity Champions. The awards will be presented at the 10th annual Scottsdale Community Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner Celebration. Meghan and Manali Bhave, seniors at north Scottsdale’s Desert Mountain High School, and Rueben Camacho, a Scottsdale worker and resident of Gold Canyon in the Southeast Valley, were selected from a group of 12 nominees.



Several people nominated Camacho. He works in community relations at Scottsdale Healthcare. He reaches out to the uninsured and underserved families that live in south Scottsdale. He makes families aware of a variety of services that are available to help. He said he finds joy in “just seeing poverty-stricken families coming together and learning the system.”



Meghan and Manali Bhave are being honored for founding Students Understanding Nations’ Similarities or SUNS, a club that fosters tolerance and promotes an environment free of racial tensions. The 17-year-olds came up with the idea after the 9/11 attacks. Through SUNS, the duo created a performance for students at Anasazi Elementary School. The fraternal twins created 12 three-dimensional booths; each represented a country. Each student was given a passport to visit the booth, where they learned about different foods, sports, clothes and religion. Meghan and Manali have been asked back to create a similar program for Anasazi this year. They are also coordinating an event at Desert Mountain in March that will showcase different cultural dances and food. Meghan and Manali’s work makes them the youngest recipients ever of the Diversity Champion awards. “Cultural diversity is something we do as a hobby because we love it,” Meghan said. “We’re Hindus living in America,” Manali explained. All their lives they have learned both cultures integrated the two into their lives. The teens both hope to become doctors.



The Bhaves and Camacho will receive the award awards are given by the Community Celebrating Diversity at 5:45 p.m. at Chaparral Suites Hotel, 5001 N. Scottsdale Road. Reservations are $60 per person and can be made by calling (480) 312-3030.

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