Former Ambassador Mari Carmen Aponte received the William J. Clothier II Memorial Award at the Pan American Association of Philadelphia's 77th Annual Membership Meeting. The event was held on Wednesday at the Philadelphia Union League among the presence of illustrious representatives from Philadelphia's Latino community.

Edwin Meléndez, Professor of Urban Affairs and Planning at Hunter College and the Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, delivered a keynote address. Meléndez concentrated his speech on the difficulties that Puerto Rican residents still face more than a month after Hurricane Maria hit the island.

“Rescue missions are still on the way. The hurricane is not over yet”, Meléndez said, emphasizing that clean water and electricity are still not totally reestablished on the island.

Meléndez stressed the importance for the Latino community to work together to help ease the calamity that Puerto Rico faces.

Aponte was born in Puerto Rico and later moved to the U.S. to pursue a better education. She completed her bachelor’s degree in political science from Rosemound University, then completed law school at Temple University, becoming the first Latina lawyer in Pennsylvania.