By Katrina Grant
Tabernacle Township held its first-ever Tabernacle Volunteer Day on June 11 in the cafeteria and parking lot of the Tabernacle Elementary School. The event was put together to showcase the many volunteer organizations that are in Tabernacle Township.
“The mayor decided to do this because a lot of people don’t realize what goes on in this township. (There are) a lot of volunteers,” William Lowe, emergency management coordinator said. “This was an opportunity for the different organizations to show what they do, recruit some members, and for the township to recognize the volunteers.”
In recognizing the volunteers, Mayor Kim Brown presented each organization with a certificate. A video montage is also up on the township’s website that was made by Eileen Baitzel, deputy municipal clerk.
“Eileen made the montage, and Janet Boris took the pictures,” Lowe said. “She is responsible for the website, so she put the video up there. I didn’t even know she could do anything like that, until the video went up. I think it was almost like a challenge to her. In townships like ours, people like to do things like that.”
At Tabernacle Volunteer Day, 21 volunteer organizations presented themselves, and a crowd of a few hundred people showed up.
“We had 22 organizations on the list, and 21 showed up,” Lowe said. “We had a broad range of organizations and enough of a crowd turnout to make it worth it. We hope to have another one next year.”
At the event some organizations were able to recruit new members.
“The Community Response Team recruited five people,” Lowe said.
In all, the day served its purpose with shining light on the many volunteer organizations and giving them thanks for what they do.
“A lot of these organizations don’t get to show their work,” Lowe said. “Plus, this was a way to say thank you.”
If you would like to see the video montage for Tabernacle Volunteer Day go to: www.townshipoftabernacle-nj.gov/volunteerDay.php
