Each New Castle County Council district has roughly 45,000 people. On any given day, hundreds if not thousands of them are quietly doing their part to make a difference in their communities, often without the attention bestowed upon public officials. Those civic contributions have not gone unnoticed by council members themselves, who each year honor someone from their districts with the Volunteer Service Awards. This year's recipients range from community organizers to emergency services volunteers and from library advocates to champions of historic preservation. In this two part series, we introduce you to 2009's award winners.
Council District 1 - Councilman Joseph Reda (D-Elsmere):
Joseph Leonetti, volunteer fire fighter
For 43 years, Leonetti has volunteered with the Elsmere Fire Company, including a nine-year stint as chief. For 20 years, he was the chief organizer of the town's Christmas Parade, all while operating his family's bakery. Currently, Leonetti works as safety and security manager at St. Francis Hospital and serves as coordinator for the county's HAZMAT cleanup team.
Council District 2 - Councilman Robert Weiner (R-Chatham):
Anti-Graffiti Brigade Captains
While many spend their weekends on the couch watching football, a team of volunteers that stretches across the county can be found outside armed with paint and brushes, trying to eradicate unwanted graffiti from the county’s fences and bridges. Captains include: Robert Cameron, Phil Lavelle, R.J. Miles, Isaac Walker, Tom Barbas, Michael Fleming, Charles Stirk, William Wheatley and Mike Ansul.
Council District 3 - Councilman William Tansey (R-Greenville)
Brian Moore, civic leader
It's hard to imagine Moore can find enough hours in a given day to be so active. He's the former president of the Pike Creek Valley Civic League and Limestone Hills Maintenance Corporation, a Police Athletic League director, Piedmont Little League coach and a member of the Knights of Columbus. He also sits on the county's Stormwater Stakeholder Focus Group, the Task Force for Metropolitan Government Reform and the state's Emergency Management Planning Committee. Moore is an instructor at the Delaware Fire School, is a volunteer firefighter and has served with the National Guard.
Council District 4 - Councilman Penrose Hollins (D-Wilmington North)
Ivey Ahmed Ibrahim, community activist
Hollins says neighborhood sustainability can only be achieved by the people living there, and Ivey has led the charge in the City of Wilmington. He has implemented neighborhood beautification projects and strategic plans that have resulted in housing development and homeownership there and Ivey’s fingerprints are on the maintenance of the Riverview Cemetery and the North Market Street streetscape. He's also the founding board president of the Police Athletic League.
Council District 5 - Councilwoman Lisa Diller (D-Newark)
Friends of the Newark Free Library
For 43 years, the Friends of the Newark Free Library have been advocates for their beloved library, offering thousands of volunteer hours and promoting library programs throughout the community. In 2009, the Friends raised more than $10,000 for the facility and, as active participants in the "Delaware Does More" campaign, collected more than 1,600 pounds of non-perishable food for the Food Bank of Delaware.
Council District 6 - Councilman Bill Powers (D-Townsend)
Elizabeth Doty, community organizer
A social worker by trade, Doty served as executive director of Common Cause of Delaware for six years. She was ordained a Presbyterian pastor in 1992 but remained a community advocate on a volunteer basis, building partnerships throughout the 6th District. In 2002 she was key to organizing the community group that later became Pencader Hundred Community Center in the Bear-Glasgow area. She directed that organization as a volunteer and then as executive director until her retirement in 2008.
Council District 7 - Councilman George Smiley (D-New Castle):
Louis Garcia, civic leader
For 20 years, Garcia has been active in his community of Centennial Village, but it wasn't until 2006 that the neighborhood formally re-established its maintenance corporation after years of inactivity. Garcia volunteered to serve as president and face the challenges that came with the job, from ensuring the neighborhood's storm ponds were properly maintained to cleaning up large patches of open space that had gone neglected.
Council District 8 - Councilman John Cartier (D-Penny Hill):
Friends of Rockwood
Longtime boosters of the Rockwood Museum and Mansion in Brandywine Hundred, The Friends in recent years have become central to the facility's survival as a county treasure. Initially established in 1977 to preserve the estate's collection while the county maintained the mansion, the Friends’ role has expanded as the county has come upon more difficult financial times. Currently they are working to raise more than $500,000 to repair the mansion's conservatory, which was built in 1852.
Council District 9 - Councilman Timothy Sheldon (D-Pike Creek):
Brookland Terrace Civic Club
When Charles Stirk and William Wheatley took over as officers in the Brookland Terrace Civic Club, community participation began to increase almost immediately, Sheldon said. Attendance at civic meetings was up, a block-watch program was launched and more and more homes began paying their annual dues. They also began cleaning up graffiti in their neighborhood, an effort which has grown to include other neighborhoods and involve juveniles sentenced to community service for vandalism and other property crimes.
Council District 10 - Councilman Jea Street (D-Wilmington South):
Sandra Smithers, teacher and civic leader
Smithers was born and raised in the Wilmington community of Dunleith and is a product of the Dunleith Community School. After college and graduate school, Smithers returned to her old stomping grounds to live and provide leadership as president of the Dunleith Civic Association for the last six years. A science teacher in the Appoquinimink School District, Smithers has also sponsored a free summer enrichment program for elementary school children in the community.
Council District 11 - Councilman David Tackett (D-Christiana):
Ruth Kelly, educator
Kelly moved to New Castle County in 1977 and immediately began working with students in the Christina School District. First a parent support specialist and later a communications specialist, Kelly has devoted countless hours to public education. Also an active volunteer, Kelly can be found mentoring and facilitating support groups for new mothers, advocating for children and helping at her church.
Council District 12 - Councilman Bill Bell (D-Middletown):
Michelle Smith, fallen firefighter
A dedicated fire fighter with the Delaware City Fire Company, Smith lost her life in a blaze on Dec. 20, 2008. During her time in Delaware City, Smith worked tirelessly as a fire fighter, volunteering with the Ladies Auxiliary, tending to injured patients in ambulances and educating young children about fire safety. She was among the rarest breed of human beings, said Bell, one who "recognizes that the path on which they are about to embark is fraught with danger, and yet in spite of that knowledge they rush headstrong down that path."
At-Large - Council President Paul Clark (D):
West End Neighborhood House staff
With a mission of helping people realize their maximum potential and achieve self-sufficiency, the West End neighborhood house serves more than 10,000 people each year in the areas of employment training, GED preparation, tutoring, crisis management, home ownership and a host of other real-world disciplines. West End also offers truancy prevention programs and offers relocation loans and grants and transitional housing to those in need.
