Levittown Community Council (LCC) presents its Junior Volunteer of the Year Award each year to an outstanding middle school student who has donated their time to volunteer work. The criterion for the award is that the student did not profit financially from their participation and that the work being recognized was not assigned as class work.
Two outstanding students were honored at an awards celebration on Monday, May 21 at which their families, teachers and school administrators were present along with members of the LCC.
The first-place winner was eighth-grader Karleigh Paldino of Salk Middle School, who was nominated by Frank Martin, one of Paldino’s teachers, who cited her accomplishments with peer tutoring in science, the Salk Food Drive and in raising money for the sports teams to give food to the hungry. Paldino’s other charitable work includes volunteering with the Girl Scouts, a cancer center for kids, Maria Regina Soup Kitchen, First Presbyterian Church of Levittown and making donations to Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Astoria Federal Savings in Levittown presented Paldino with a $250 American Express gift card. Bank Manager Lois Cornibert made the presentation. Additionally, Paldino received certificates of appreciation from LCC and County Legislator Dennis Dunne, Sr.
The second-place award was presented to Wisdom Lane sixth-grader Jennifer Zimmerman. She was cited for her work with disabled students at Helping Hands and her commitment to working every Saturday and during school vacations in art classes, pet therapy programs, with games and serving lunch.
In addition to a certificate of appreciation from LCC, Zimmerman received a $50 gift certificate from the Elks Club and a citation from Legislator Dunne.
A reception for the honorees, their families and school representatives followed the presentations.
Each year, LCC requests three candidates for the Junior Volunteer of the Year award be submitted by the three middle schools: Island Trees Memorial, Salk and Wisdom Lane. The winners are selected based on their accomplishments by a committee comprised of LCC members.
