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Arthur Powis
Humanitarian of the Year Award
Arthur Powis lives a life of service to others. He is an active member of his community and church, and as his favorite mug will tell you, he is the Best Uncle Ever! Arthur contributes to his community by organizing and running free kayaking trips for area youth, adults, and families. He runs Family Fishing Days to develop community and provide families with the opportunity to reconnect in the great outdoors. Arthur dedicates resources and time to a local youth camp, providing carnival games and crafts for children. Arthur is committed to humanitarian efforts both nationally and internationally. He engaged in cleanup efforts in Louisiana and Nebraska in the aftermath of the devasting damage due to flooding, and he participated in a mission trip to Kenya to provide humanitarian aid to children in need. Arthur’s civic mindfulness extends to service efforts at DPD. He has donated his handcrafted wooden pens and lamps for auctions to support DPD, and he has donated model trains (a personal love of his) to DPD clients. Arthur approaches every aspect of his role at DPD as a service to his colleagues and he clients. He provides support networking and PC’s to allow staff to better help clients, and he shows genuine care and kindness in all he does.
Arthur has been the IT support for Catholic Charities DPD diocese for 15 years. In that time he has completely revamped the computer systems 3 times. Moving from a single local server to multiple servers and a cloud system so that Group homes can access data more efficiently. He works to ensure that the systems are secure and monitors all systems for security.
Val DiGiacinto
Veteran Partner of Year Award
Val DiGiacinto, is the President of Welcome Home Vets of New Jersey (WHVNJ). WHVNJ is a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization. Our Mission: To provide care for our New Jersey Soldiers, Veterans and their Families in need. WHVNJ depends solely on the generosity of our donors. We are an all volunteer organization and 100% of our donations go directly to fulfill our Mission.
Born and raised in Jersey City, NJ, and currently living in Towaco. Val & his wife Rosemarie just celebrated their 53rd Wedding Anniversary on Valentines Day. They have 2 boys and 2 girls (He swears they planned it that way) and have 6 beautiful Granddaughters (ages 7 through 13) After attending FDU, Val enlisted into the U.S. Air Force for 4-years and spent his last year at Nakhon Phanom, Thailand. His Printing Company in Fairfield, NJ, Express Printing Services, Inc., is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).
WHVNJ’s primary focus is our New Jersey Homeless Veterans. We have created a “Fire Team” with a mission to provide “3 Hots and a Cot” as quickly as possible. In most cases, we can move a Veteran from the Street to a Hotel within 4 Hours. Another focus has been our Food Card Program. Since February of 2022, we have sent out over $30,000.00 in ShopRite Gift Cards to New Jersey Veterans in need. This supplements their use of Food Banks, most of which have non-perishable items, and allows the Veterans to add the necessary fresh items needed
Dave Coppola
Knight of the Year Award
I have been a Knight for 25 years (holding so many Officer positions including Distric Deputy, etc). In that time, I participated in over 600 events which includes theme breakfasts, golf outings, Special events, Texas Hold 'em matches, fundraising, and over 100 events involving Special needs. Served on Special needs ministry at St Marys for 15 years. I also served with the local soccer association for 25 years.
In short, I am what I do for others.
-Dave -
To register, please visit www.ccpaterson.org/wiegand50