Fort Greene resident, 65 year old Tim Gibson, and 27 year old Joshua Marland, from Clinton Hill, each received a 2008 New York Cares Volunteer Leadership Award at the CUNY Graduate Center in Manhattan. The award recognizes those who have gone above and beyond to help out New Yorkers in need. Brooklynites Tim and Joshua were among ten selected for this prestigious award.
Tim, a London native, has accrued more than 500 hours of community service after only one year with New York Cares. When he is not recording books for the blind in Midtown, bringing meals to the homebound in the Village, or coaching 85 year-olds on the Upper West Side like Millie to share their life stories, Tim travels the world as a luxury tour manager. As for why he volunteers, Tim says, “It’s just a great feeling of giving back.”
Joshua has completed over 130 hours of volunteer service since 2007, helping recent immigrant children from Yemen and Jordan get acclimated to life in the U.S. Each month, kids from the Arab American Family Support Center in Brooklyn explore the city with the volunteers. He also leads a Kaplan SAT prep class in Brooklyn. When it comes to volunteering Joshua says, “at some point everyone needs a little help.” Josh currently works as a research analyst for the non-profit New Leaders for New Schools.
New York Cares enables nearly 40,000 New Yorkers each year to serve on hands-on volunteer projects. Last year, volunteers touched the lives of 400,000 New Yorkers in need. For more information or to get involved, please visit www.nycares.org.
