Amiri Hayes Receives The President’s Volunteer Service Award
NJV Board members Kathy Kuzma, Janet Chen & George Kuzma (on left), Amiri Hayes (center), Township Mayor Peter Calamari, Councilwoman Daisy Velez, NJV Board member Eddie Weiner (on right)
Janet Chen, North Jersey Villages (NJV) Founding Trustee, presented the President’s Volunteer Service Award to Amiri Hayes for his outstanding volunteer work as a member of NJV’s IT Team under the management of volunteer Columbus Kim. The presentation was made at an NJV event discussing more feasibly “Aging at Home” at the Washington Township Library on September 28th.
When joining NJV, Amiri wrote in his profile, “I believe in the concept of independent living and socially connecting models – to support seniors. My grandmother is 87 and … (read more) fiercely independent… I like the idea of supporting an organization like North Jersey Villages that supports this approach to aging.” And Amiri has been an outstanding support – volunteering over 175 hours of service last year – communicating effectively with the team – and making a difference in the lives of independent as well as isolated seniors who enjoy the NJV website’s robust calendar of local live and online events.
The weekly updated NJV website featuring the calendar – as well as updates on and links to available state and county senior services – would not be possible without six volunteers who have joined NJV’s mission through the Volunteer Center of Bergen County. Amiri, a high school senior, and the other volunteers represent the intergenerational aspect of the Village Model’s neighbor helping neighbor concept.