DR. ARCHIE BUENDIA RECEIVES MEDICAL SERVICE AWARD
Congratulations to Dr. Buendia who recently received the Merli Fermo Service Award for 2011. This annual award is given by the Philippine Medical Association of Oklahoma. He received this award because of his involvement in humanitarian services such as charitable work, medicare service, and voluntary services. The Cross Timbers Rotary Club is proud that Dr. Buendia excells in all of these catagories and that he is a charter member of the club. He truly personifies the Rotary motto of Service Above Self.
For a summary of many of his accomplishments, click on the word MORE immediately below.
Dr. Buendia has been an active Rotarian in Oklahoma for 30 years having served as president in three different clubs. The first was the Wewoka Rotary club, the second was the Tecumseh Rotary Club, and currently a charter member of the Cross Timbers Rotary Club since 1997. He has been involved in different committees to help the community such as the “Le Tour de Vin”, a wine tasting affair which collected about $80.000 to help the Mary Abbott House and the Thunderbird Club House. Other projects he has participated in are the distribution of dictionaries to third grade students in and around Norman, Salvation Army bell ringers during Christmas and the Outback Luncheon fundraising. He is a multiple Paul Harris Fellow and supports The Rotary Foundation Polio Plus project, the aim of which is to eradicate polio globally through vaccinations. He and his family have hosted GSE (business exchange) Team members from different countries and he has also been a student counselor for the Rotary International Youth Exchange Program. The main reason he has been a Rotarian for so long is because of Rotary's contribution to the community as well as global understanding and world peace.
Professionally, Dr. Buendia has volunteered his time and services for free medical care at Health for Friends Clinic in Norman, Oklahoma for the past three years on Monday mornings and sees about 10 – 15 patients per session. He also gives free medical care at the Good Samaritan Clinic in Edmond, Oklahoma one Saturday a month. This service gives him a feeling of satisfaction in knowing that he has served needy people who benefit from his abilities as a doctor. Personally, he is a long time regular blood donor.
He has gone on medical missions to the Philippines almost every year for the past ten years. The University of the Philippines alumni group (UPMASA) selects a very deserving area in the Philippines every year for a medical mission. The criteria for the selection is based on need, the cooperation of the doctors in the community, and the availability of a hospital for the surgeries to be done. So far, he has been to Ilagan, (Isabela) Bangued (Abra), Vigan,( Ilocos Sur), Bani,( Pangasinan), Balanga (Bataan), Hilongos ( Leyte), Tubod,( Lanao del Norte), and Pototan,( Iloilo). Next year, the medical mission will be in Cebu and he plans on going.
He is an active member of St. Mark Catholic Church parish in Norman where he has been a Eucharistic Minister and usher. While living in Wewoka, he spent many hours helping to build the small church there and he served as the parish president for about 15 years. He also was a Boy Scout leader for Troop 426 for many years, and assisted with grounds maintenance.
In 1990 and 1992, he traveled to Russia as a Medical team leader . This was a ministry group that wanted to establish an orphanage.