2017 Gift Of The Heart – GCIT

Woodbury, NJ, March 28, 2017
For Immediate Release

The law firm of Hoffman DiMuzio has allocated close to half a million dollars to its “Gift of the Heart” Community Scholarship Foundation. Forty-one graduating seniors from Gloucester and Salem County High Schools have been selected to receive a one thousand dollar scholarship for embodying the service ideals of the program. This week, the 2017 “Gift of the Heart” Hoffman DiMuzio Community Service Foundation recipients are from the Gloucester County Institute of Technology: Hannah Mennella and Dylan Glick.

Hannah Mennella

With a new organization, Hannah Mennella sought to create projects to help her community. Youth Voice is the youth advisory council for the Kids Caring Foundation. As chair, Hannah regularly sets the agenda for and leads meetings.

During her time with Youth Voice, the group has spearheaded numerous projects. Over $2000 has been raised for a local kindergarten student battling cancer. The fundraisers took the form of selling bracelets at a community fair, sponsoring a local comedy night, and creating an event with face painting, a bounce house, and Princess Ariel. Three Promise gardens have been created throughout Pitman. Essentially, after gaining approval from the Pitman Borough Council, community member were asked to donate a tulip bulb and take a pledge to live drug free. The 1,000 red tulips provide a scenic reminder of the pledges made. Hannah explains “being the chair of Youth Voice…has taught me a lot about leadership, but, more importantly, I’ve learned that my actions can change other people’s lives and even the world.”

AT GCIT, Hannah is a member of both the National Honor Society and he National Technical Honor Society.

Great work Hannah!

Dylan Glick

In addition to comprising much of his extracurricular activities, theatre has played an important role in Dylan Glick’s community service.

To honor those that passed away at Pulse nightclub, he assisted with an effort to conduct multiple readings of The Laramie Project, a play about reactions to the 1998 murder of Mathew Shepard. As a member of ACTing out, a social advocacy theatre group, Dylan has helped with events such as the Freshmen Meet and Greet performance. Additionally, during the summer, Dylan volunteers as a student director at Clayton Summer Drama camp.

Community service is a life long endeavor. Dylan explains that growing up, he was taught the mentality that helping, both around the house and in his community, was important. At GCIT, Dylan cofounded PLAY (Peace, Love, and Acceptance in Youth) club, a student run safe haven for LGBTQ+ students and allies that meets regularly to discuss topics related to the LGBTQ+ community. He also lectors and helps as a Sunday school assistant at his local church.

Dylan is a member of both the National Honor Society, and National Technical Honor Society. Thank you for your community service Dylan!

Congratulations are extended to Hannah Mennella and Dylan Glick as well as their proud family and friends! Their community service embodies a Gift of the Heart.

Next week’s featured recipients will be from Kingsway high school.

Click here to read more about the Hoffman DiMuzio Gift Of The Heart Scholarship Foundation.

If you’d like to see the rest of the 2017 scholarship winners, click here.