When John Warzol, a senior at Schalmont High School, started his leadership project for Eagle Scouts, he had no idea that the good he was doing for others would lead to a positive reward for him besides, of course, the satisfaction that comes from helping your neighbors.
Warzol set out to collect coats and other items for the needy in Schenectady County starting in August. Several months later, he managed to collect more than 700 jackets and other goods, including shoes, clothes and toiletries, which he donated to the City Mission of Schenectady.
Not only did he complete his leadership project, his work earned him Rotterdam’s Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award for 2008, which was awarded at the Wednesday, Dec. 10, Rotterdam Town Board meeting. This is the second year the town has handed out the award.
I started off by making fliers that told everyone there was going to be a coat drive,` said Warzol.
He told Rotterdam residents to leave the items in bags on their porches on certain dates. Warzol, family members, friends and other Eagle Scouts took care of the rest, going to more than 1,000 homes to retrieve the donated items. He also set up a collection post at Jefferson Elementary School.
`I didn’t ask for it, but some people also gave shoes and clothes so I took all of it and brought it over [to the City Mission of Schenectady]. We received coats, hats, mittens, toiletries — soaps, razors and diapers ` overall we got over 700 coats and 1,000 to 2,000 toiletries and multiple hats and gloves,` said Warzol.
There aren’t any set guidelines to win the Outstanding Citizen of the Year Award, and there’s no application to fill out. It is awarded to a citizen who’s done something above and beyond the call of duty for the community.
`These are the kinds of events you want to highlight in your community to show [the good that’s happening], especially in these tough economic times that people are looking beyond themselves to look at those around them to help those who need assistance,` said Rotterdam Supervisor Steve Tommasone.
Warzol has been a Boy Scout since the second grade. As a senior at Schalmont High School, he is also a member of the Schalmont Science Honor Society, the Schalmont Varsity Soccer Team, the Schalmont Ski Club and the Schalmont Varsity Tennis team. Even with all of his extracurricular activities, he has found the time to stick with Eagle Scouts. He said that his friends provide a lot of inspiration for him.
`I think friends were one of the main reasons I stuck to it,` said Warzol.
A number of those friends are still working on their projects.
`A lot of my friends are doing their projects right now. One of my friends just finished his. He built a nature trail,` said Warzol. `The project is supposed to teach you about leadership. The main thing is that I had to organize the whole thing. Everyone at the city mission was thrilled about it because they said I ‘saved the day for hundreds of families and children. They had a bunch of people who needed coats and were coming it. It was kind of perfect because I needed a project and they needed coats.`
What’s next for Rotterdam’s 2008 Outstanding Citizen of the Year? College. He’s looking at State University of New York at Cortland, SUNY IT, and University of Buffalo. He might possibly be interested in film production, but he said he’s not sure yet.
`It was nice for him to be recognized and hopefully next year we’ll keep doing this,` said Tommasone. “