Tim Evans, M.Div., CFRE was given the prestigious “Outstanding Citizen of the Year” for 2019/20 by the San Bernardino County Medical Society (SBCMS) at the Annual Meeting in Chino. Evans, the former founding Chaplain of Loma Linda Children’s Hospital and also Chaplain at the Loma Linda University Medical Center and J L Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center from 1990-2003, was joined by past and present board members of the Redlands based 501(c) (3) charity (he co-founded with then-spouse Sonya Evans, RN) – The Unforgettables Foundation (TUF).
At the Installation Gala, where past president Dr. Damodara Rajasekhar, MD passed the chair baton to new president Mark Bai, MD, SBCMS President-elect Christopher (Chris) Tsai – an Upland Urologist and former Loma Linda University Intermural basketball teammate of Evans – gave the Citizen Award to his friend in front of 300 attendees. San Bernardino County Medical Society CEO/ED Alison Elsner of Palm Springs was in attendance, as was former SBCMS CEO Linda Stratton of Beaumont, a leading volunteer for The Unforgettables Foundation. A founding board member of TUF and longtime Chief in Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital NICU, Dr. Ricardo Peverini received the President’s Award. He and Chaplain Evans worked to minister ill infants together for many years.
The Unforgettables Foundation and the San Bernardino County Medical Society have collaborated for 19 years on an annual award always given at the “Lights for Little Lives Memorial Walk & March (held each December 31st), in Loma Linda. Hundreds of families come to the Ronald McDonald House parking lot across from The Children’s Hospital midafternoon on New Year’s Eve to walk to the local Campus Hills SDA Church (or University SDA in some years) to remember the names of children who have died by the naming ceremony, candle lighting and dove release which comes after the Top Kids Doc Award. A SBCMC honoree, an LLUCH, and a Riverside County Medical Association winner are all recognized at this moving march.
For more information about The Unforgettables Foundation, The “Lights for Little Lives” Walk or Chaplain Evans, please visit www.unforgettables.com or to the Facebook page, or call the office (909) 335-1600. To interview Evans call (909) 855-3130. The award-winning charity helps with burial monies for at-risk and grieving families struggling with funeral costs for their child for ages 30 months to 18 years for all causes of childhood death.