Luis Tovar, the 2023 Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce Outstanding Citizen, urged the audience at the awards ceremony to pursue cultural diversity and to fight the scourge of drug addiction—two causes that are close to his heart.

Earlier this year, the Chamber announced that Tovar, 69, a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway in Kennett Square, would be formally recognized at its 56th annual gala banquet in Longwood Gardens on March 18. In 1968, the chamber started naming an individual who has made outstanding contributions to Kennett Square and beyond as its “citizen of the year.”

Tovar has had an extraordinary journey on his way to receiving the honor. He immigrated to the United States from Mexico with his family as a young child. He worked his way through school and college and eventually moved to Chester County 17 years ago in connection with his work.

Tovar is widely known in the area for his passionate support of the local Latino population and his founding leadership in Kacie’s Cause, an advocacy group formed to fight drug addiction.

When he arrived at the dais to receive his plaque on Saturday, Tovar faced his audience at the dressy event in Longwood Gardens’ banquet hall like a stern chaplain, addressing the topics that are important to him.

He did not hold back. He urged the business leaders in the audience to grow and succeed at their companies by incorporating the abilities and contributions of people from all ethnicities and cultures.

“If we do not encourage and tolerate vast races and suggestions, we are missing an opportunity. … I believe innovation has to be part of your strategic plan every day. … I want my board to look like my customers,” he said.

He also expressed thanks and satisfaction that in his term as head of the Kennett Square Borough Council’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, he encouraged Latino families to get involved with and to pursue all the opportunities the borough has to offer.

He expressed gratefulness for the impact of the commission’s input into council decisions.

“Thanks to ACOLA we have more Latino voices on the council than ever before,” he said.

He moved on to the subject of drug addiction, which he said he sadly faced in his own family.

“I didn’t choose it. It can happen to any one of you at any time,” he said.

As one of the founders of Kacie’s Cause, he said he is aware that the problem of drug use is becoming worse at the hands of ever-increasing efforts by the drug cartels in a variety of foreign countries. He urged support for fundraising events that contribute to the fight against and to the understanding of drug abuse. He said that, among other things, Kacie’s Cause has obtained and provided Naloxone, the drug that can be administered to prevent death from drug overdoses.

Also at the banquet, the out-going board chairman Doug Doerfler thanked the chamber members for the support they gave him during his leadership term.

Newly welcomed board chairman Tim Moore encouraged the members to take advantage of the benefits the group can offer and to extend those benefits to the employees in their companies.