{"id":47544,"date":"2024-04-04T14:10:42","date_gmt":"2024-04-04T14:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=47544"},"modified":"2024-04-04T14:10:42","modified_gmt":"2024-04-04T14:10:42","slug":"holden-honors-two-good-neighbors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2024\/04\/04\/holden-honors-two-good-neighbors\/","title":{"rendered":"Holden honors two Good Neighbors"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Ken Cleveland<\/em>
\nLandmark Correspondent<\/em><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 This year’s Good Neighbor Awards were presented to Jessica Cosenza and Verena M. Welch during the 29th annual event honoring citizens of the town who have made significant and\/or long term contributions to the community through their volunteer activities.<\/p>\n

The two were honored March 21 with a ceremony at the Holden Senior Center.<\/p>\n

Jessica was recognized for her work with Holden\u2019s Community Garden. Verena, a high school senior, was honored for her work in addressing period poverty. She is also the student running the TOPSoccer program.<\/p>\n

\u201cVerena Welch, who is the youngest to ever be given this award, was honored for her dedication to a number of causes,\u201d event emcee Tim Ethier said in recognizing her efforts.<\/p>\n

While a student at Mountview Middle School, Verena questioned why the girls did not have access to period products and addressed concerns over what is referred to as \u201cperiod poverty,\u201d a phenomenon that exists all over.<\/p>\n

Her efforts to give girls access to necessary sanitary products showed tremendous courage, and her perseverance eventually led to free products being made available at Wachusett Regional High. It also helped to lead the Massachusetts State Senate to passing a bill that will expand access to products in public health facilities throughout the state, Ethier noted.<\/p>\n

Verena also became a huge advocate and leader of the TOPS soccer program, a branch of Holden Youth Soccer that provides access to youngsters with a range of disabilities. She recruits high school students and coaches, trains them, and \u201cdoes it all\u201d according to the leader of Holden Youth Soccer, Osman Bilsel.<\/p>\n

She has also been very actively involved at Immanuel Lutheran Church with their efforts to fight hunger; as a Girl Scout, she earned the Gold Award, the highest award given, for her many actions and accomplishments. Verena will soon graduate from Wachusett with high honors and as a member of the Student Council, president of the Science National Honor Society, the Spanish and Math honor societies. She was captain of the varsity swim team and recipient of the Coaches Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is truly one outstanding young lady,\u201d Ethier said.<\/p>\n

Jessica was honored for her amazing efforts as a member and now chairperson of the community gardens committee. In 2016, the town Recreation Department moved from its location on Highland Street, and the land that was vacated was set aside for a community garden. Through the efforts of Jessica Cosenza and many others, the land is now filled with 23 gardens where Holdenites can get outside and raise fruits, vegetables and flowers, socialize with their neighbors and get their hands dirty.<\/p>\n

Jessica joined the committee when it was formed in 2016, and has been its chairperson since 2019. Through her leadership, the gardens were extended to include a separate area at Davis Hill Elementary School where students learn firsthand about growing and harvesting. This has been incorporated into the science, math and social studies curricula and gives students the opportunity to be outside and experience nature.<\/p>\n

Through the efforts of Jessica and her committee, the Highland Street gardens now include four raised beds where elderly and handicapped individuals can also enjoy outside gardening. In June 2022, the Girl Scouts held their \u201cbridging ceremony\u201d at the gardens before hundreds of residents. They now they hold it there every year and have done great things to improve the gardens, thanks to the committee and Jessica\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is truly a good neighbor in every sense of the words,\u201d Ethier said.<\/p>\n

The Good Neighbor Award ceremony, with more than five dozen attendees, was made possible though the efforts of S. Jane Arntz and her committee, including Michael Mazloff, Patty Jacobs and Charlene Millet, Ethier said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ken Cleveland Landmark Correspondent HOLDEN \u2014 This year’s Good Neighbor Awards were presented to Jessica Cosenza and Verena M. Welch during the 29th annual event honoring citizens of the town who have made significant and\/or long term contributions to the community through their volunteer activities. The two were honored March 21 with a ceremony […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}