By Stephanie Crowley
Dozens of students from schools across Morris County have been honored for their volunteer service with the Kids2Kids (K2K) special needs mentoring program.
At a ceremony last week at the Morristown Beard School, they received the Presidential Volunteer Service Award, celebrating them for making a positive impact.
The award enables community organizations to join with the President of the United States in thanking their most dedicated volunteers.
K2K is a nonprofit that offers developmental programs for special needs children led by teen mentors, to enhance verbal communications and social interactions.
This elite group of volunteers meets monthly to discuss and plan programs, and spends additional hours mentoring. Developed in the Morris School District, K2K recently expanded this turn-key inclusion project to other districts.
Many K2K graduates have continued to impressive universities, bringing with them the skills and abilities to replicate this program in any community.
In many college essays, these mentors have described the satisfaction they have received from working with their special needs buddy. Many have won scholarships based on their experiences.
“This is truly human connection at its very best. As a parent of a special needs child, I am so grateful and amazed by the talents and abilities of these teen mentors. My child is safe around water from the skills learned at K2K—an amazing comfort to our family,” commented Dave May, who helped start K2K with a swim program at the Morristown High School pool.
Students from Greater Morristown were among the honorees.
The President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation launched the Presidential Volunteer Service Award in 2003 to recognize the vital role of volunteers in America, and to honor volunteers and the inspiration they give others.
Today, the program continues as an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, managed in partnership with Points of Light, an international nonprofit with the mission to inspire, equip, and mobilize people to take action to change the world.
Interested volunteers can find more about K2K on the program’s website: www.kidstokids.us
