By Audrey Levine, Staff Writer
Although they were surprised to learn of their nominations, for the two borough women receiving county awards next month, they said it is just an honor to be recognized for the work they do.
Karyn Malinowski, of Manville, and South 18th Avenue resident Edith Lit are this year’s honorees from Manville for the education and hometown hero honors, respectively, in the 17th annual Outstanding Women of Somerset County awards, sponsored by the county’s Commission on the Status of Women, and in honor of Women’s History Month in March.
Jack Ciattarelli, Somerset County freeholder and liaison to the Commission on the Status of Women, said the commission identifies a number of different areas for which women should be recognized, then asks the community to submit nominations for county residents who they believe are worthy.
”The members of the commission screen the nominations and make the final decisions,” he said.
A selection committee read through this year’s 60 nominations to narrow the winners among the 17 categories, said commission Chairwoman Irene von Dohlen.
”It’s not an easy process,” she said. “The people who won go above and beyond in the community and in their work.”
With 31 years of teaching experience at Rutgers University under her belt, Ms. Malinowski has been chosen as one of the recipients of the education award.
”I am very pleased to have been chosen,” she said. “It’s nice to be recognized for doing something you love to do.”
For Ms. Malinowski, it is especially significant to be honored by the county’s Commission on the Status of Women, as her teaching of equine science made her the first female extension specialist in equine science in the country. Extension specialists often focus on addressing problems critical to animal agriculture, and Ms. Malinowski focuses her time on the equine industry.
”To be recognized by an organization recognizing females is very special,” she said. “Most of the people I teach are females because women love horses more than men.”
Her love of horses, Ms. Malinowski said, began when she was young, and lasted through her career as she has become the director of the Equine Science Center at Rutgers University, where she also serves as a professor.
”I helped develop the program,” she said. “We teach better horse care through educational training. This program has been building since 1978.”
With all the effort she has put into the Rutgers program and other work, Ms. Malinowski said she was still surprised, but pleased, when a colleague asked for permission to nominate her for the county award.
”You are always surprised when a colleague thinks of you,” she said. “But it is always nice when you hear they are putting your name forward.”
Still, Ms. Malinowski said, she is most looking forward to meeting the other winners at the dinner.
”That is always the best part,” she said.
For those women looking to pursue a career in education in the future, Ms. Malinowski said her advice is something she has followed all her life, and which has served her well over the years.
”Have an outstanding male mentor who knows the ropes,” she said. “I had male mentors who taught me the politics of the university. About 30 years ago, there weren’t many female mentors. So I have practiced this advice my whole career.”
Ms. Lit has spent more than six years working to help people and animals, but she was honored, and surprised, to be nominated and chosen to receive the hometown hero award for the outreach programs she participates in to help the homeless.
”It’s a thrill for me (to receive the award),” she said. “I don’t do this all by myself, there are so many people who help. It really is an honor.”
In 2002, Ms. Lit said, she began a program called Share in the Warmth of the Season, where she collected blankets to give to those in need. She said she brought some to the Somerset County Hospital, but they could not take all she had collected, so it was suggested she look into county options for helping others.
Through this, Ms. Lit said, she was introduced to Alternatives Inc., a state-funded county organization that hosts different fundraising opportunities for those in need.
After joining the organization in 2002, Ms. Lit said, she got involved in the Holiday Wish List program, through which the county gathers lists of items desired by people in Franklin House, a place for struggling parents and their children. She said Franklin House helps these people find homes, jobs, clothing and other necessities.
”At the holidays, these people are not expecting anything,” she said. “Franklin sends us a wish list and we coordinate the gift giving.”
In the past three years, Ms. Lit said, this program has been expanded to include the county animal shelter, as volunteers gather food, bleach, paper towels and even gift cards to be used at the shelter.
Ms. Lit also participates in the Point in Time program through the county’s Department of Human Services. She said the county gives out water, hygiene materials and other items to homeless people who answer survey questions that are then sent to the state.
For Ms. Lit, getting involved in helping those less fortunate stems from a sudden realization several years ago that this problem is not just isolated to cities and places in the news, but can be found near home. She said she was reading an article several years ago about an attack on a homeless man who lived in a tent city in Somerville.
”I was surprised because you don’t think of it in your own backyard,” she said. “When I first started, I had to explain that people in the community need our help, because people didn’t believe it. (And) this award is really nice if it brings the things I am doing into focus.”
Ms. Lit said committing to helping others is actually an easy thing to do, and there are so many people in the county and all over who need the assistance.
”You’d be surprised how easy it is to help people,” she said. She said she likes making charities easy, by simply asking people to bring items to work that they want to donate, and she will bring them where they need to go. “I feel I get a better response when I make it easy.”
The dinner and awards ceremony, Mr. Ciattarelli said, is the way of showing that the community is appreciative of all the work the women do in the county.
”There are thousands of women who live and work in the county, and contribute to the community,” he said. “By recognizing a few, we are also honoring the many thousands.”
The awards will be presented to all recipients during a special dinner at The Imperia, in Somerset, at 6 p.m. March 6. Tickets are $45 per person and advance reservations are required by Feb. 25.
For more information call Commission Chairwoman Irene von Dohlen at 908-604-6278.
Also receiving awards are Ann Minzer Conley, of Franklin, for business; Helen Haines, of Hillsborough, Carole Payne, of Boonton, and Elizabeth Stitley, of Somerville, all for education; Lisa Kent, of Hillsborough, and Katy Rupert, of Bedminster, both for being an entrepreneur; Barbara Tofani, of Hillsborough, for health services; Alice Steinbacher, of Bernardsville, for journalism; Nandita Kamdar, of Branchburg, for management; Pamela Ely, of Bridgewater, for public service; Barbara Schlichting, of Stockton, for social services; and Nicolette Ash, of Bridgewater, and Tina Rear, of Hillsborough, both for volunteerism.
Doris Zampella, of the E.A. Boniakowski Agency Inc. in Green Brook will receive the Shirley Noble Volunteerism Award, and Raritan Mayor Jo-Ann Liptak will be a distinguished honoree.

