By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
A 40-year resident of East Windsor Township has been awarded the township’s "Sylvia Weiss Senior Citizen Award for Outstanding Service as a Volunteer."
Stephen Schienvar, who has served as a volunteer emergency medical technician and who has also chaired the township’s Juvenile Conference Committee for 27 years, was honored at the Township Council meeting June 27.
The award was named for the late Sylvia Weiss, who died last year. She was a former Township Council member and was also instrumental in organizing the senior citizens program in East Windsor Township. She was a former chairman of the New Jersey Commission on Aging.
Township officials solicit nominations for the award every year, Mayor Janice Mironov said. The township is fortunate in that there are many people who volunteer their time and are worthy of recognition, she said.
But the winner of the Sylvia Weiss award is someone who goes "above and beyond" himself or herself to help in their neighborhood, their religious community, school or emergency services, Mayor Mironov said.
In announcing this year’s winner, Mayor Mironov said she was "very proud" to recognize Schienvar, who is someone she has known for many years.
Mayor Mironov pointed to his years of service as a volunteer emergency medical technician with the East Windsor Township Rescue Squad, including 10 years as its treasurer.
"We all slept very well at night (when Schienvar was on call)," Mayor Mironov said.
In his volunteer work with the Juvenile Conference Committee, Schienvar works to divert young people out of the criminal justice system, she said. He does that by providing guidance to them.
Schienvar also volunteers as a "care ambassador" at the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, where his background as an emergency medical technician has been helpful, she said.
Schienvar has worked with a number of "really important" organizations and has done so "effectively and caringly," Mayor Mironov said.
"If you talk about a person with a good heart who is really a decent person, that’s Steve," Mayor Mironov said. "If I call him, he will do whatever he can. We are fortunate that he is willing to help out. He is a valuable addition to our lives."
Accepting the award from Mayor Mironov, Schienvar said he has always wanted to help others, and being an emergency medical technician was one way to meet that goal.
"I have found through the years that helping people is extremely fulfilling. The residents have been responsive to the efforts of the volunteers. (I want to) thank the community for choosing me for this award," Schienvar said.
