Volunteers Celebrated at Viola Blythe Awards Night

The hosted the annual Viola Blythe volunteer appreciation dinner Tuesday night.

The city has hosted this dinner since 1999, and the volunteer awards have taken place since 1985.  

The event honors groups and individuals who work to make Newark a better place.  The awards are seperated into the following four categories: Group, Senior (62+), Youth (<17), and Volunteer of the Year.

I attended this year in support of Angel Vera, who volunteers with various programs at our library. Volunteers are a great asset to our community, and I am always glad to provide support to those who make a difference.

All of the nominees for the awards should be congratulated for their service.

Mayor Nagy handed out certificates to volunteers from organizations such as CERT, Graffiti Abatement, Police Reserves, Police Explorers, Senior Center, and the Silliman Center.  

A total of 126 names were listed in the program, and the volunteers varied from Junior Life Guards to Senior Center to Graffitti Abatement.

Mayor Nagy handed out a special recognition award to William Spinola in honor of 30 years of service with the Mosquito Abatement District. 

Award Winners:

Group:

• Avanzando won the award for their focus on Latino youth and families through "education, leadership, and networking." Vivian Larsen accepted the award for Avanzando. 

Senior:

•  Kazuko Young received the award for her service at .  Kazuko has been volunteering at Schilling in the office ever since she retired several years ago.

Youth:

• Angel Vera received the award for his work with literacy, tutoring, musick elementary tutoring program, and with Puente.

Volunteer of the Year:

• Marla Blowers was honored with the award for her work with getting Wal-Mart gift cards for clothing and eyeglasses for NUSD students, as well as all of her work with the Optimist Club. 

I was very proud at the end of the evening of Angel for winning the Youth award and all of his dedication to the City of Newark.  

Many of the parents of the young volunteers took pictures of their kids with the City Council and Mayor Nagy. 

My question for anyone reading this is: How do we all work to make Newark a better place? The City has many opportunities; from CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), Newark Police RAVEN (Ready Active Volunteers Engaged in Newark), Viola Blythe, Newark Library, Church groups, and more.

I hope to see some of you at the awards dinner next year.

The nominees for the awards were:

1. Avanzando (Group) *Winner*
2. Marla Blowers (Volunteer of the Year) *Winner*
3. Beatrice Boyd (Senior)
4. Jose and Maria Braia (Senior)
5. Franz Bruckner (Volunteer of the Year)
6. Edna Jones (Volunteer of the Year)
7. Clark Redeker (Senior)
8. Angel Vera (Youth) *Winner*
9. Allyson Wong (Youth)
10. Kazuko Young (Senior) *Winner*