The Moorestown Service Clubs Council has recognized two Moorestown High School seniors with the 2022 Good Citizens Award.
Spencer Talbot and Samantha Krasner will be honored for their volunteerism at the club’s Citizens of The Year award dinner, which has been postponed.
Talbot volunteers for the Moorestown Fire Department, Station 311, the Boy Scouts of America and the Historical Society of Moorestown. As an exterior junior firefighter, his responsibilities include retrieving tools, learning the trucks and helping fellow firefighters.
“It’s incredibly accessible because they’re willing to take the time and the training to help you learn and grow and see if you want to pursue that career,” Talbot said.
Through his work with the fire department, Talbot was given the opportunity to ride along with paramedics and EMTs from Moorestown’s Emergency Squad 319. He conducts duties such as carrying patients and learning procedures and will receive his EMT certification in May as a medical provider.
“I’ll be able to start recording vitals, flowing oxygen and interacting with patients on a medical level,” he said.
Talbot founded the Outdoor Service Club, which is run through the Moorestown Parks and Recreation Department. Member Rich Corbin helped Talbot learn to plan, organize, execute and report on service projects such as park cleanups and clearing trails.
“The rec department – Theresa Miller and everyone on the board – has been very facilitating, and it’s been awesome to be able to get so many students together to be able to make discernible changes,” Talbot noted.
At the Historical Society of Moorestown, Talbot is a student chair volunteer, conducting research and teaching Moorestown’s history.
Krasner has volunteered for Adath Emanu-El Synagogue since the eighth grade, and is an assistant second, fourth and sixth grade Hebrew teacher. She also volunteers with the synagogue’s associated events.
“I was really excited to see that I was able to sit down with some kids and help them through the lessons if they were struggling,” Krasner said, “And it is the most rewarding thing in the world when you can see that you make a difference in someone’s lives and really help them to reach a goal.”
Krasner is a volunteer counselor at the JCC Summer Camps at Medford and the Betty and Milton Katz Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill.
“I realized while working at camp that when you’re working with kids, you don’t know what kind of background they’re coming from; you don’t know what’s necessarily going on at home,” Krasner noted.
“You know that you’re there to make their day happy and have them smile and participate in activities and really just have a great day.”
Krasner also teaches Hebrew to kids of all ages.
“I’ve loved having the ability to switch around in working with the different age groups, because I think it will really help me be prepared for my future of working with kids in a medical environment,” she said.
Krasner has advice for those interested in volunteering.
“I would say just try it all; don’t be imitated by your inexperience,” she said. “I would say just go outside your comfort zone and once you find what you like, just keep going and find more things that will really make you excited to volunteer.”
Krasner and Talbot are passionate about their work.
“Receiving this award really recognizes the substantial work I’ve done with my community, and it’s a great honor because sometimes I forget – because I love it so much – that I’m really making an impact,” Krasner offered.
“I wake up every morning with the energy and the will to continue working toward those goals of conservation, to continue bettering myself, to be a better first responder and to continue expanding the reflective knowledge of humanity,” Talbot said.
