Laura Romero, executive director, and Coca Romero, patient services coordinator of St. Andrew's Children's Clinic show the clinic's 2012 Golden Rule Community Service Award. Photo/Vicki Fitzsimmons

[Episcopal News Service] St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic, an Episcopal Church Center for Jubilee Ministry located in Nogales, Arizona, recently received the 2012 Golden Rule Community Service Award at the 7th Annual Golden Rule Awards Banquet in Mesa. The Clinic received the award “for unselfishly helping to coordinate and meet the needs of those in dire circumstances with professional volunteers, and they have made a profound difference in the quality of life of many people.”

On receiving the award, Laura Romero, executive director of the clinic, said, “This award reflects the team effort our volunteers perform in providing health care for those less fortunate than themselves. A walk through our clinic shows our team united in setting aside faith differences to focus on healing and providing a better life for our patients.”

Arizona InterFaith Movement, founded in Phoenix in 1995, sponsored the award and the banquet, which was attended by 600 people. The mission of the Arizona InterFaith Movement is “…to build bridges of respect, understanding, and support among diverse peoples of faith through education, dialogue, service, and the implementation of the Golden Rule.”

The celebration is one of the activities in recognition of International Golden Rule Day on April 5. The Golden Rule is a tradition of “treating others as you would like to be treated.” Some form of the Golden Rule is incorporated in many different faith traditions and secular ethics. As stated on the Arizona InterFaith Movement website, “It’s common ground to our Global Family if you think about it and is a guidepost for living that can bring peace to our world.”

St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic is held the first Thursday of each month (except July) at the church. The business office is in Green Valley. The clinic is non-profit, non-denominational and provides free, specialized medical care to children living in Mexico who cannot afford to get the care they need in their home country. Medical problems are involved and range from spina bifida and cerebral palsy to nutrition, speech, hearing, and vision problems. All doctors and health care professionals are volunteers. According to the recent financial audit, 97 percent of all donations go to direct patient care. More information is available at the clinic’s website.