2 Haddonfield Residents To Be Honored At County Medal Ceremony

HADDONFIELD, NJ - Two people with Haddonfield ties will be recognized for their contributions to the community Wednesday night. Kimberly Dickstein and Al Schmidt will be honored for their unselfish contributions to improving their community at the 2019 Camden County Freedom Medal Ceremony on Jan. 23, county officials announced.

They are among 18 Camden County residents who will be honored Wednesday night. The award was created in 2001 and is presented to civic leaders who demonstrate the ideals and actions that reflect the principles of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Below are the biographies for Dickstein and Schmidt, provided by the county:

Kimberly Dickstein, Voorhees Twp./Haddonfield: Kimberly Dickstein has served Camden County as a community organizer and advocate for education. She has taught at Haddonfield Memorial High School for 10 years, and was recently awarded Teacher of the Year 2018-2019. In June 2018, Kimberly initiated an advocacy campaign on behalf of Garang Buk Buk Piol, a former child soldier from South Sudan, to help him attend graduate school at Emory University. By mobilizing community members to embrace global citizenship, they crowdsourced over $80,000 toward his tuition. Kimberly has also volunteered for 16 years with the Alicia Rose Victorious Foundation, a Camden County based nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life for hospitalized teens, in memory of her best friend, Alicia DiNatale.

Al Schmidt, Haddonfield: Al Schmidt and his wife, Bobbie, grew up in Camden County, where they married and started a family. Al earned a degree from Rutgers-Camden, and taught at Camden High School before transferring to IBM. Through Grace Church, he connects with outreach programs for people in need. Presently, Al manages a team of volunteers that pick up food daily from local Wawas and deliver it to St. Paul’s. For 12 years, he has worked MLK Days of Service and Vacation Bible School. Al has the honor of being president of the Haddonfield 65 Club.

The complete list of honorees includes:

• Rosy Arroyo;
• Pam Grayson Baltimore;
• Kathy Crane;
• Kimberly Dickstein;
• Carolyn Grace;
• Eartha Holland;
• Shirley Johnson;
• Sandra Kelly;
• Nurah Muhammad;
• Bill Orth;
• Mario D. Partee;
• Jennifer Richman;
• Al Schmidt;
• Rabbi Larry Sernovitz;
• Bill Spearman, Assemblyman;
• Stella Sytnik;
• Mary Ann Wardlow, Mayor of Lawnside; and
• Robert Rocky Wilson.

"Each year since 2001, the Camden County Freedom Medal has been presented to honor extraordinary Camden County citizens who have generously contributed their time and effort to better their community while espousing the ideals indicative of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli, Jr. said. "These exemplary citizens have demonstrated significant contributions in the area of community service. They serve as a model to us all."

The Freedom Medal ceremony will take place at the Collingswood Ballroom located at 315 White Horse Pike. The reception will start at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will be served at 6 p.m. The awards will be presented immediately following dinner.

The attached image of the Camden County seal was previously provided.