Letters to the Editor: Members & Friends of The Camden County Heroes Scholarship Fund
Tuesday, January 05, 2021
This year has been an unprecedented year to say the least. We were disappointed to not be able to host a list of planned in- person fund raising events due to the current Covid-19 pandemic. Fortunately, we were able to host a few of these....our Annual Dinner, Giving Tuesday, two Coach Bag Raffles and our annual Golf Outing. We are grateful to all of you who supported these events. And of course, we are most appreciative to our dues paying Members that have kept up your memberships with us. All of this, and the generosity of some outside agencies and other various donations, has sustained us throughout the year, making it possible for us to uphold our promise of education to three students who are currently attending college due to their fathers making the ultimate sacrifice. Plus, we were still able to offer our scholarship program to graduating high school seniors.
The future is uncertain. We have no idea when we will be able to begin hosting in-person events. This makes a look at the road ahead a little scary, but we know that “this too shall pass” and we’ll be back up and running eventually. We will keep in touch as things move forward. We miss seeing all of you and anxiously await a time that we can all be together again!
As we move forward, we will optimistically start to develop a plan and do our absolute best to accomplish our daily mission of providing scholarships to those children of our heroes that have made the ultimate sacrifice. We appreciate any support that you can offer in the New Year – every dollar helps! We hope that you will all continue with your memberships, support any events that we can host (virtual or live), remember us with your United Way payroll deductions, and all the other ways that you have helped and supported us over the years. Your gift does make a difference....we cannot do what we do without you!
In the interim, we salute all those who are working tirelessly on the front-lines battling this virus...our Health Care Workers and our Public Safety Personnel. Your dedication and commitment to the safety and well-being of all of us
is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Best Wishes for a safe, happy healthy New Year!
The Board of Trustees of the Camden County Hero Scholarship Fund
~ Membership ~
If you, or anyone you know is interested in becoming a Member/Supporter of the Camden County Hero Scholarship, we welcome the financial support. The children of our heroes count on us!
It is our mission to provide financial and educational assistance to the surviving children of those
who have made the ultimate sacrifice. These students can attend any college of their choice,
and we will pay up to the highest NJ State tuition at their time of enrollment!
Corporate Memberships are $1,000 and renew at $500 annually.
Business or Personal Memberships are $200 and renew at $100 annually.
Public Safety Memberships are only $50 annually and are open to those serving in a public safety capacity.
Help us to keep our promise of education to the children of Camden County’s “heroes” killed in the line of duty! ~ Giving to the United Way? .... Your gift does make a difference! ~
We would like to thank those who donated to us through the United Way. We’re eligible to receive donations through many facets of the United Way:
*Camden County, *Camden County Public Employees, *New Jersey State, *United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania and *United Way of Delaware.
General United Way – our number is #7741 Public Employees Program our number is #9016 or you should be able to write us in!
~ Special Thanks ~ We offer special thanks to the following for their generosity and support:
*The host departments of the Camden County Fire Chief’s and Fire Officer’s Association who requested the Camptown Collection/Meeting donations be presented to the Hero Scholarship! Thank you for helping us to help all of you!
*Giving Tuesday was a new venture for us this year, and we were so grateful to all of you who donated. We were able to raise over $5,000 thanks to your generosity! This was a big help to us this year!
*Centurions of South Jersey for a hosting an American Cookout that raised over $7,500! It was a great event!! We are honored to be your Charity of Choice! Thank you for your continued friendship and unending support!!
*FOP South Jersey Lodge #56 for your generous $500 donation to our organization. We appreciate your generosity! *PSE&G for once again presenting a financial gift in support of the Hero Scholarship and the many fundraising activities
we sponsor. Your continued support and friendship is greatly appreciated!
*The John Norcross Memorial Scholarship Fund for their continued support. This year we received $1,000!
Thank you for always remembering us!
*The Millennium Club Table of the Union League of Philadelphia for a $1,500 donation. Thank you Joann Tarditi for recommending us!
*#Operation Kindness for their various donation over the course of the year. Thank you Critt DeCristofor, for not only thinking of us, but for all you do for so many!
*Carl Smith for a $1,500 donation in memory of his brother Captain Larry Smith of Camden City Fire Department who lost his battle with cancer this year. This donation was even more special because Carl and Larry were former Scholarship recipients of ours. Their father, Firefighter Earl Smith of Camden City Fire Department made the ultimate sacrifice on April 7, 1968. Thank you Carl for your generosity and kind letter that you sent!
*M & D Paddle Creations for naming us to benefit from your creativity! The paddles and items you sell are amazing. We truly appreciate you thinking of us!
*Haddon Housing Associates for your overwhelming gift of $5,000! Your generosity is appreciated more than you will ever know. Thank you so much!
*The many families who named the Hero Scholarship Fund to receive donations in lieu of flowers at the loss of their loved ones. We thank the families for thinking of us at such difficult times in their lives.
*All of our members and supporters that have contributed in some way over the year. We could not provide the promise of education to the children or our heroes without your help! Thank you!
~ Heroes to Hero Run ~
We were unable to host this year’s Heroes to Hero Run due to the Pandemic. In an effort to keep the race active, and to honor the three fallen firefighters that this race pays tribute to, we sold “Pandemic Race t-shirts.”
We had a great response – selling 450 T-shirts. We thank those who sponsored the shirts, and those who purchased. 2021 is the 20th Anniversary of the Race and we are hopeful that we will be able to hold the race in person, reminding the Sylvester, West and Stewart families that we will never forget the sacrifices of Jim, John and Tommy!
~ Trustees ~
This year we said good-bye to Trustee and Friend, Edward Dowhy. Ed suffered a heart attack and passed away in August. He was a retired Lieutenant with Camden City Police Department. He joined our Board in July of 1997.
Our heart goes out to his family. He will be sadly missed by all!
And we thank Lt. Richard Ostermueller for serving with us for the last few years. Rich resigned to devote more time to his family, education and career. We wish him all the best and appreciate the time he shared with us!
If you are interested in being a Trustee, we welcome you to contact the office for more information!
~ Officers ~
We are pleased to announce the following officers remained in their current positions!
Stephen DePierri ~ President Bill Good ~ 1st Vice President Dave Dilks ~ 2nd Vice President Don Hensel ~ Treasurer Cathy Dobbins ~ Secretary
Special thanks to all for their dedication, leadership and guidance.
~ Annual Awards Dinner Held ~
Thankfully, we were able to host our 52nd Annual Dinner on March 6th at Lucien’s Manor.
Chief Bob Giorgio joined us once again as our Master of Ceremonies. Bob does such a great job
and everyone was happy that he was able to return this year!
As always, we were thankful to the Camden County Emerald Society Pipes and Drums for their always awesome presence at this event. Our attendees love having them play! Their performance makes the night special! We are very honored that so many of you come out in support of this event year after year.
Again nearly 500 attendees joined us in honoring and remembering the sacrifices of those who have given their lives in the line of duty, as well as honoring those who received awards.
Many awards were presented to those who have gone above and beyond the call of duty.
Distinguished Service Awards were presented to Det. Vincent Russomanno, Officer Vaughn Edwards, Officer Joseph Mair, Officer Brian McCline, Camden County PD; Ptl. Franklin Flash, Delaware River Port Authority PD; Lt. Mark Benton, Gloucester Twp. PD; FF Robert Scott, Camden City FD.
Meritorious Awards were presented to Chief Patrick Moriarity, Runnemede FD; Capt. Frank Thompson, Camden City FD; Sgt. Gerard Boberick, Ptl. Gregory Flynn, Gloucester Twp. PD;
EMT David Venuto, Jefferson EMS for Lindenwold.
Unit Citation Awards were presented to Ladder 2 – Lt. Mark Mondile, Lt. Donovan Mihalik, FF Dominic Jackson, West Berlin FD; Engine Company 1132 – Lt. Jonathan Hutton, FF Robert Chester, FF Nicholas Johnson, FF Justin Squibb, Pennsauken FD; Chief Michael Harper, Jr., Asst. Chief Mark Jay, Jr., Capt. Josh Whetstone, Lawnside FC; Narcotics Gang Unit – Sgt. Paul Sandrock, Det. Justin Widman, Det. David Stinsman, Det. Mark Pease, Det. Krispin Jackson, Det. Ketevan Iosebidze, Det. Nicholas Fabbroni, Det. Thomas Dougherty, Det. Jason Diaz, Det. Timothy Purnell, Camden County PD; Officer John Fenuto, Officer Scott Stickney, Delaware River Port Authority PD.
Civilian Awards were awarded to Katie Harper, Christina Durante, Christina Merulla, Teresa Blaese, Janine Trommater, TJ Schug, John Senft.
We congratulate all award recipients on a job well done!
Thanks to all who made the night a success! The attendees, our ad sponsors, Chief Giorgio, Berlin Fire Company #1 Honor Guard, the Camden County Emerald Society Pipes & Drums, and the staff at Lucien’s Manor!
~ 2020 Scholarship Recipients ~ $2,000 scholarships were awarded to the following:
Law Enforcement - Olivia Stollsteimer. Olivia is a graduate of Timber Creek High School. She is attending Marywood College, pursuing a career in the medical field with the hopes of one day being a doctor/surgeon.
Fire – Natalie Vincent. Natalie is a graduate of Kingsway Regional High School and is pursuing a degree in Marine Science at the University of Tampa.
EMS - Gino DeMarco. Gino graduated from Bishop Eustace Preparatory School and is attending Duquesne University, majoring in Biomedical Engineering or Pre-Med with the hope of becoming a surgeon.
Corporal Christopher Milito Memorial Scholarship – This $1,000 scholarship funded by the Delaware River Port
Authority Police Department – Penn Jersey Lodge, was awarded to Samantha Lafferty of Cherry Hill. Samantha is a graduate of Cherry Hill High School West. She is currently attending Rutgers University with the hopes to one day be a neonatal nurse.
There were no qualified applications submitted for the Chief Gary R. Cline Memorial Scholarship or the Chief Gene Dannenfelser Memorial Scholarship.
We congratulate all of our Scholarship Recipients and wish them all the best in their future endeavors!
If you would like to be added to our email list, please contact and let us know!
www.camdencountyhero.com or email us at [email protected] and don’t forget to “Like” us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter!
Hope to see you at our future events and activities!