Soroptimist International of Fairfax County (SIFC) presented the Violet Richardson Award to four young women for their volunteer efforts in Fairfax County at SIFC’s annual awards dinner on May 15, 2019 at the Red Lobster in Fairfax City.
The Violet Richardson Award honors young women ages 14-18 for their volunteer efforts which benefit individuals with a need and the community at large. The award comes with a check for $500.
The honorees are: Stephanie Agyemang-Manu, Racheal Appiah, Helen Ganley and Judith Velasquez. Each honoree is an honor student at their high school, volunteers to help several causes, but is distinguished for identifying a need and helping to meet the challenge of resolving that need with volunteer action that benefits individuals as well as the community at large.
Stephanie and Racheal volunteer at the Community Preservation and Development Corporation (CPDC) at Stony Brook. The goal of the organization is to recruit volunteers to improve the safety and quality of life their communities. CPDC is a leading not-for-profit real estate developer dedicated to providing safe, high-quality affordable housing to low and moderate-income individuals and families. CPDC recruits people to advance this mission. Stephanie and Racheal help plan and manage after-school programs, the summer education and fun programs, the neighborhood events and activities, and so much more. And, they work to inspire young people to follow in their foot-steps.
Helen Ganley created a program in senior centers to teach senior citizens how to use cell phones and other high-tech devices to communicate with family and friends. Her challenge grew out of her concern that her grandparents—and a large percentage of senior citizens—were unfamiliar with the current communications devices, leaving them feeling lonely and isolated.
Judith Velasquez volunteered with a program called ELLA (Empowering Latina Leaders Ahora) created in her school to help young Latina girls pursue an education and to increase their graduation rate. Judith’s goal is to help Latina girls thrive.
For more information about the Violet Richardson Award, please contact Cathy Clark at clark10131@verizon.net.
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