Award recipients recognized at City Council

Mayor Vance A. Funk III announced the recipients of the Jefferson Awards at the City Council Meeting Monday night. Among those honored was senior Elena Delle Donne, who was given the award for her commitment to community service activities.     

Delle Donne is involved in different community outreach programs including the Special Olympics, the Mary Campbell Center—which supports disabled children—and the A.I. DuPont Children’s Hospital. She could not attend the awards ceremony due to minor health issues, however.

Others who received the award included Diana Advani, founder of the Global Perspective Club, alum Mathias Fallis for his work with Students for Haiti, Sharen Bruen for the organization of 14 community events in the city, Polly Sierer for her work with Newark Area Welfare Committee and Gail Chickersky for her commitment to several local nonprofits.

After the award ceremony, Michelle Fidance, the national director of the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, presented the Youth Service Challenge. Fidance said Funk is launching this year’s challenge to encourage young people to serve their community, make a difference and inspire others to follow their lead.

“It’s about challenging our youth to come up with big meaningful service projects,” Fidance said. “Our goal is to help young Americans embrace service as a way of life, to engage over a million young Americans in student led service projects and educate them on the effects of change they can have locally, collectively and nationally.”

Fidance also said the Governor’s Advisory Council for Exceptional Citizens is partnering with Newark High School to collect sleeping bags for homeless children. The goal is to collect 2,000 sleeping bags by Feb. 28, she said.

Anyone under the age of 25 can participate in the program by registering as an individual, team or school project on the Youth Service Challenge website, she said. Fidance said the council particularly wants students to participate.

Funk will host an award ceremony for the program on May 13, where he will pick the top three participants to receive a Jefferson Award gold medallion.

“The mayor’s top three will go to the national organization to be considered for the national top price,” Fidance said. “The students who win the national will be invited to come to the Jefferson Awards National Ceremony in Washington D.C. to represent the Youth Service Challenge.” 

The city council also approved the consent agenda, which included the approval of regular council meeting minutes, the appointment of Mark Doughty to Newark Housing Authority, the appointment of James Garvin to the Board of Ethics and the receipt