By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
ABERDEEN — Local high school students were recently honored by the Township Council for their dedication and participation in a new community service program aimed at assisting elderly or disabled residents unable to shovel snow at their property.
At an April 5 meeting, Mayor Fred Tagliarini and Deputy Mayor Margaret Montone presented members of Matawan Regional High School’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Club with community service certificates for their efforts on behalf of residents in need.
Recipients included Nicole Aellis, Evan Asante, Joseph Bracco, John Carelli, Amanda Ferrara, Kyle Gamble, Anna Giglio, Jesse Haber, Griffin Leibell, Jordan Lewandowski, Marina Manova and Robert Otten.
“I truly believe that volunteers are the heart and soul of any community, and the fine young men and women we are honoring tonight are fine examples of that,” Tagliarini said in a statement. “We thank them for their service and dedication to the town.”
In a recent interview, Aberdeen Economic Business Council Chairman Carmine Visone said he developed the new initiative and worked with several local officials and community members to help bring it to fruition.
“Sometime at the beginning of the last school year, I met with the teachers that run the school’s Future Business Leaders of America Club and … I had an idea that maybe we could link up the students with residents in the township who are disabled, who are elderly and maybe do a snow-removal project where the students can actually receive credits for hours of work as community service,” he said.
Matawan Regional High School teacher and FBLA advisor Cindy Mesko said the club was looking for a new community service initiative and credits Visone for bringing the idea to the club and serving as the link between many individuals and finding residents in need of the service.
“Part of being a member of FBLA is about doing community service,” she said in an April 15 interview. “We reached out to Mr. Visone, who does great work in the community already, and he developed this pilot program and the students really jumped on it and were excited to go out into the community and help people who really needed it.”
Visone said while the club and students loved the idea and were excited to get started, there were some procedures that had to be followed first.
“One, students had to be approved by the nurse as to whether or not they were healthy enough to do this and two, we had to receive a written parent permission for the students to actually be involved in this project,” he said. “There were a lot of protocols that had to be put in place first.”
As students signed up to be part of the new pilot program, officials went out into the township and asked residents and community members about who might want to partake in the program.
“We received almost within a week or two about seven or eight families who were either disabled or elderly, and what we did was we linked the students up with the homes that were closest to them because many of the students don’t drive and we wanted them to be in walking distance,” Visone said.
The 12 student volunteers were assigned in teams of two or three to shovel at the participating homes, and Mesko said surveys filled out by the residents on how the students did were wonderful.
“The residents left heartwarming responses and were so grateful and thankful, and as a teacher you feel proud of your students’ accomplishments, and they were so willing to go out of their way to help others,” she said.
Visone said the responses were great to get considering the first snow the students went out in was when Winter Storm Jonas struck in January.
“Lo and behold, the very first time was Winter Storm Jonas, and I had said the students are probably not going to be able to do this, and believe it or not every single one of those houses was handled perfectly by the students,” he said.
Visone and Mesko said the pilot program was so successful, residents are coming forward and asking how to sign up and get involved with it for next year.
“I am totally into doing things that are different and exciting and innovative that involves the students,” Visone said.
“It is a great program, [and] these kids were outstanding [and] they did such a great job.
“When they know that they are doing something that is helping someone else and making a difference in someone else’s life, they really feel good about themselves and get a true sense of accomplishment.”
Visone has a master’s degree in management and finance and is the owner of township-based Home Away From Home Academy, author of a book on early-childhood education and owner of Middletown-based HoneyBaked Ham. He said his background leads him into getting students involved in community efforts, and he is hoping to encourage more students to get out there and help those in need.
“Everything is about community involvement and trying to make people’s lives better and more enriched and happy and not worry so much,” he said.
“It is about how well we’re getting the students to be involved in the community in different business perspectives and truly bringing it full circle in helping people. That to me is the goodness of this.
“This program could actually be huge, and when September comes around and before the winter comes, I think we’ll have a great program in place and be able to help more families and have more students involved.”