WEST MILFORD - The township council will honor West Milford’s volunteers on Wednesday, April 17, at the start of their council meeting.
The Volunteer of the Year award will be presented to Gary Oppenheimer, founder of AmpleHarvest.org and a member of Sustainable West Milford. AmpleHarvest.org is an online resource for food pantries and home gardeners to connect with each other. Pantries sign up to receive fresh produce and gardeners deliver. Created in 2010, Oppenheimer's goal of ending hunger certainly has many admirers. There are close to 6,000 food pantries nationwide that are signed up on AmpleHarvest.org as of today. He's been a guest at the White House and named a CNN Hero for his efforts. The council chose Oppenheimer based on nominations from the public.
The Mary B. Haase Lifetime Volunteer Award, which is given out by a committee of former mayors, will go to Tonya Cubby. Cubby is a resident and employee in West Milford. She is the founder of the West Milford Museum and has volunteered with the Environmental Commission.
In addition to the two major awards, the council will also celebrate the township's many volunteer groups and their members. Many of the volunteer groups from the township will be present and talk briefly about their groups and what they do. In years past ambulance squads, library members, animal shelter volunteers, firefighters and others talked to the public and the council about their group’s contributions to the community.
The festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, at the town hall, Union Valley Road.