Annual award for community voluntary service
By:Michael Arges
EAST WINDSOR "Please get involved in the community, because I’ve had a ball" this is how Louise Di Dia, 72, described her enjoyment of community service as she accepted the Sylia Weiss Senior Citizen Award for outstanding service as a volunteer.
She said she was "stunned" and "overwhelmed" to receive the award, presented at the East Windsor Seniors Center Wednesday.
Ms. Di Dia’s involvement in the community began after she and her husband Nick moved their family to East Windsor 16 years ago and includes serving as secretary of the Seniors Club at the East Windsor Seniors Center and being a helper for community computer courses at Kreps School. She is president of the Princeton Country Club women’s golf league, and she does publicity for the Anthonian Seniors, a social activities organization at St. Anthony of Padual Roman Catholic Church. And recently, Ms. Di Dia has begun writing about seniors for the Windsor-Hights Herald.
Ms. Di Dia underlines the importance of the work done by the Seniors Club in enhancing and extending the programs offered by the seniors center. Without such services, many seniors would be sitting at home "looking at four walls." The Seniors Club adds events such as special luncheons and special trips to the programming of the center.
How has Ms. Di Dia been able to accomplish so much in community service? Perhaps it began as a child, having been born in the Canal Zone in Panama and moving around a lot as a child because of her father’s military career. But she says she watches "very little TV" and notes that "God has blessed me with pretty good health."
Much of all her success seems to be due to her enjoyment of people. In serving others "I’ve had so much fun!" she says.