NEWARK — For decades, Viola Blythe’s name has been synonymous with charity and volunteerism.
The Newark woman helped those in need for more than 50 years — first out of the garage of her Newark home, and later, at the Viola Blythe Community Service Center on Ash Street.
So, it’s only fitting the city’s top volunteer award be named after Blythe, who passed away in 2002 at 85.
The name of the award, which was first conferred in 1985 by the Newark City Council, was changed in 1991 to the Viola Blythe Volunteer of the Year Award to honor the city’s standard-bearer for generosity and compassion.
This year’s winner will be announced Wednesday at the annual city of Newark Volunteer Recognition Ceremony, in which nominees in the senior, youth and group categories also will be named.
Each of this year’s nominees have made community contributions that directly affect the lives of Newark citizens without benefiting from personal or monetary gain.
This year’s Viola Blythe Volunteer of the Year Award nominees include:
They eventually became the parking chairwoman and chairman of the event’s planning committee, and they now manage more than 700 parking spaces that serve the festival’s visitors.
“The people keep us coming back,” Ferrier said. “It’s a great group.”
Ferrier and Onalfo, Brentwood residents who lived in Fremont from 1996 to 2001, said the keys to running the event parking are enthusiasm and strong organizational skills.
“You have to be a people person,” Ferrier said.
More importantly, he has worked long, thankless hours while cataloging hundreds of English textbooks in its electronic system.
“It took about a month,” said Hayes, a Newark Memorial graduate who plans to attend Ohlone College in the fall.
His efforts will help students in Newark for years because it has helped instructors know exactly what resources they can make available to special needs students and English-language learners, librarian Laura Utile wrote in her nomination letter.
Hendren, a single mother, took on all kinds of new responsibilities, such as managing the nonprofit’s databases, training new CalWORKs volunteers, scheduling students for fundraising dinners, volunteering at Newark Days, registering children for LOV’s Summer Recreation program, and helping to administer the Toys for Tots and Adopt-a-Family programs.
Hendren continued to volunteer on a part-time basis last year as she enrolled in the Mission Valley Regional Occupation Program and graduated with honors while receiving her certificate to be a pharmaceutical technician.
“She’s no longer here, but we miss her,” Sisk said. “And we’re proud of her.”
Jones, a founding member of the graffiti abatement team, also leads and coordinates other team volunteers, and fixes equipment to save the city money on repairs and replacement costs.
Also, in advance of the annual Newark Days parade, Jones eradicates any graffiti along the parade route and near the Newark Community Center.
“He does this all on his own, expecting nothing in return,” Shearn wrote in her nomination letter.
She also lends a hand in several aspects of the center’s daily operations, performing clerical duties as cheerfully as she does manual labor, the center’s leaders said.
Now retired, the Fremont resident also volunteers at several other organizations, including the Fremont Public Library and Sunol Regional Wilderness area.
In addition, to those being nominated for the Viola Blythe award, two Tri-City area students have been nominated for the Youth Award.
They are:
He started his own food drive by preparing a flier, and collecting and delivering food to the Viola Blythe Center during the holidays. He has continued to volunteer at the center, and recently received the President’s Educational Award and a letter from President Barack Obama.
“I feel very fortunate that I have food and shelter, so I think it’s really important to give to those less fortunate,” Preston said. “It’s a good experience.”
While volunteering for nearly 200 hours in 2010, Verdugo led and organized other teen volunteers, planned an after-hours Halloween party for kids at the library, read to younger students in the Summer Reading Buddies program and contributed extra food to the Tri-Cities Food Drive.
“It’s really motivating to me to be one of the few kids helping the community,” said Verdugo, who attends Newark Memorial High School. “Not a lot of teens do it nowadays.”
Nominees for the Senior Award and Group Award will be profiled later this week or early next week.
