By Christina Whittington, Special Writer
EAST WINDSOR — Long time East Windsor resident Rita Teubner was presented the 2012 Sylvia Weiss Senior Citizen Award for outstanding service as a volunteer by Mayor Janice Mironov at the June 6 Township Council meeting.
Ms. Teubner, who has lived in East Windsor since 1972, is a charter member of the East Windsor Township Volunteer Rescue Squad District 2 where she has been volunteering since 1974. She was a riding member of the squad for over 37 years.
”It takes an especially special person to be willing to be active all those many years and to ride and respond to all the needs throughout our community of people who need medical assistance and the personal care that comes along with that to get them through that ordeal,” Mayor Mironov said.
During her time with the rescue squad, Ms. Teubner has served in various administrative positions including first lieutenant, treasurer and vice president. From 1995 through 2004 and again in 2006 she served as president of the squad.
Ms. Teubner, who has since retired from her riding duties on the squad, is still a very active member of the squad’s activities throughout the year with the auxiliary.
In 1998, Ms. Teubner became a charter member of the East Windsor Domestic Violence Victim Response Team which was Mercer County’s very first team.
The Domestic Violence Victim Response Team is a collaborative effort with Womanspace Inc. that is designed to increase the safety and decrease any isolation of domestic violence victims within East Windsor Township.
Being a volunteer on the response team, Ms. Teubner works 12 hour shifts several times a month in conjunction with the Police Departments requests to provide support for domestic violence victims.
”The team seemed to be a way to help these people get back to a normal life. After what I saw on the ambulance, I saw so many battered people for so long, this was another way of adding on what you can do to help them,” Ms. Teubner said.
The annual award is named after Sylvia Weiss, a former East Windsor Township council member, past council senior citizen advisor and chairperson of the Commission on Aging. Ms. Weiss was instrumental in the formation of the Senior Citizen Program in East Windsor Township.
East Windsor began accepting applications for nominations of this award on March 1.
The applications were reviewed by the selection committee which was comprised of Councilman Alan Rosenberg, Commission on Aging Chairperson Ondina Jeffers and East Windsor Police Chief William Spain.
