community

Marie L. Alfano, a case management nurse consultant at Aetna’s Cranbury, NJ, office leads a life of service to her community. Inspired by the work of Barbara Lightner’s organization, Joining Hands, Inc., Alfano founded Children at Heart, Inc., which strives to make reality the dreams of children in need.

Wesley and Donna Hankes devote their time and efforts to Disaster Relief Operaions and Events. They are on-call twenty four hours a day, and seven days a week. They respond to single family fires and assist with whatever is needed on the site. They have been volunteering and assisting the community for two years and have made a tremendous impact in just that short time.

Kayla M. Drummond has taken part in a variety of volunteer efforts in her Deltona, Florida community. She has served one year as an eighth grade mentor at Heritage Middle School. In addition to mentoring, Kayla is also an active volunteer with the Girl Scouts of America. As a result of her volunteer work, Kayla has been nominated as a Citizen of the Month in the past two years of school. Kayla participates in almost any event that involves community service at Heritage Middle School. She constantly seeks out activities where she can work with people and help others.

While children Jonece’s age prefer playing video games or watching reality TV during their free time. 12 year old Jonece Layne has been of service both in her community and overseas. She started volunteering at Erickson Retirement Communities/Riderwood Village 6 years ago at the age of 6, currently logging over 650 volunteer hours at that facility. She was recognized by that organization as volunteer of the year in 2006, having volunteered the most hours and being the youngest volunteer.

Santino Rosanova was a high school senior at DeMatha Catholic High School in 2007 when he began looking for a way to fulfill his volunteer service requirements for graduation. He looked in his community and found areas that could improve services to the residents of Hyattsville. This led to a weekly service project that still continues today. Santino identified a lack of social contact with the senior and disabled population in this area in Prince George's County.