Betsey Butler of West Windsor and Jeff Kaplan of Plainsboro are among those being honored as Volunteers of the Year by the New Jersey Unit of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D) during the nonprofit’s volunteer recognition luncheon to be held at noon on Thursday, September 28, at Queenship of Mary Church in Plainsboro. The event is by invitation only.##M:[more]##
Butler and Kaplan are being feted for their service to the organization that serves people who cannot effectively read standard print because of visual impairment, dyslexia, or other physical disability. The New Jersey Unit is one of 21 units across the country whose volunteers record educational texts available to the organization’s members and help provide educational outreach services to more than 400 member schools throughout the state. During the past year, New Jersey Unit volunteers recorded 415 accessible textbooks for the CV Starr Learning Through Listening Library located at RFB&D national headquarters in West Windsor.
Butler volunteers in both the unit’s recording studio and educational outreach center. Her expertise in translating maps and difficult charts and graphs has made her invaluable in recording social studies texts. Her work in the outreach center includes coordinating with schools throughout the state to make sure they receive the accessible textbooks needed for their curriculums.
Kaplan also volunteers in the unit’s recording studio, both recording texts and editing recordings before they are sent to RFB&D members. He has also worked on numerous special projects for the unit and the national organization.
Other area volunteers will be recognized for hours of service over the past year and length of service. They include Becky Barclay, Patty Cooper and Jai Sivaraman of Plainsboro; Loretta Bercuk, Karen Frezza, Clifford Giddings, Dave Gonsiorowski, Jean Gunkel, Harriet Ingerslev, Mindy Langer, Susanne McNatt, and Rose Marie Proietti of West Windsor.
The New Jersey Unit of RFB&D is located in St. Joseph’s Seminary in Plainsboro. For more information call 609-750-1830 or visit www.rfbdnj.org.
Susan Reinhard of West Windsor, and Frank Machlis of Plainsboro were honored on September 12 by AARP New Jersey at the annual volunteer recognition awards ceremony at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton.
The awards recognized volunteers for improving the lives of people 50 and over through outstanding community service, social impact initiatives, and member recruitment efforts.
Tom Rice of West Windsor will receive the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Michael P. Beier Award at Wings Over Wall Street, MDA’s sixth annual event to raise awareness for research programs for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The award is presented to someone who inspires, encourages, and motivates others with devotion and energy to find a cure for ALS.
The award is named for the late Michael Beier, a former Wings chair. Rice, managing director in equities for the Credit Suisse Group, worked with Beier as both a competitor and a partner. Beier shared the early-disease symptoms and mobility problems with Rice. ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive affliction that causes weakness and muscle wasting and often leads to paralysis.
“From that point on, I walked side-by-side with Mike through the life cycle of this awful disease, until the night of his passing,” Rice told another publication. “I am proud to be associated with MDA’s Wings Over Wall Street and all that this group has accomplished.”
Visit www.wingsoverwellstreet.com or www.als-mds.org for more information about the programs.
