David Gelman wins “Extra Mile Award” for NJCDC

The Paterson Alliance held its 2nd Annual “Extra Mile Award” Celebration on October 30th at The Brownstone in Paterson. The “Extra Mile” Award highlights the achievements and efforts of staff members and/or volunteers within non-profit organizations who have gone above and beyond the call of duty and who exude pride, commitment and passion for their work and organization. The luncheon event gave the greater non-profit community the opportunity to learn, celebrate and recognize the achievements and efforts of the many individuals who work hard every day at non-profit organizations to improve conditions for local residents.

This year’s “Extra Mile” award winner for NJCDC is David Gelman. Dave works with students at NJCDC’s Garrett Morgan Academy and is responsible for overseeing a number of initiatives to help promote student achievement, including the Saturday robotics program. As noted in the award program, “David asks for nothing and gives freely of his time. Not requiring direction, Dave takes the initiative to find partners in the community with a desire to support NJCDC. He never attends a conference or meeting without coming back to the office with a new contact person who has become enthusiastic about supporting NJCDC and Garrett Morgan after meeting Dave. Although his colleagues can highlight his work ethic or note his level of initiative, it is Dave’s ability to develop and maintain relationships that separates him from the average employee. In the hectic world of social services, it often takes many attempts before two organizations can partner together on new programming. However, Dave is wonderful at dealing with potential partners. He has an uncanny way of being persistent without being annoying – you can’t be mad at him or say no! Whether a student, faculty, staff or community member, Dave is interested in and committed to everyone he works with. He is not only an asset to his program but to NJCDC as a whole.”

The Paterson Alliance is a broad coalition of non-profit organizations that are united by the purpose of creating a healthy, safe, attractive, vibrant, and thriving Paterson. Its goals are to provide a forum for networking, discussion, advocacy, and decision making; to increase resources; and to serve as a catalyst for building civic capacity in the city as a whole. NJCDC is one of the founding organizations of the Paterson Alliance.