The Putnam Valley Central School District is proud to congratulate Putnam Valley Middle School eighth grade students Diane Rush and Rachel Fitzgerald, and Putnam Valley High School senior Kerri LoPuzzo, on being selected as winners of the 2008 Putnam County Youth Awards.

Diane Rush is an Altar Server at her church. She participated in PV’s Town wide clean-up days, has helped out at the town animal shelter, and helped to run a game booth at Town Day. Diane has also run an activity booth at the PTA Fun Fair and helped at Santa's Visit with holiday arts and crafts activities. An active Girl Scout, Diane helped build a Girl Scout float for the PV Town Day Parade, ran an obstacle course for the Council-wide Fall Event for Girl Scouts, collected cell phones and coats for the Women's Shelter in Putnam County, helped a local Brownie troop earn their wildlife badges, and is currently working on her Silver Award Project, which is sewing blankets for premature babies in the neonatal unit at Westchester Medical Center. She loves sports—especially lacrosse and field hockey, and enjoys hiking and rock climbing. Diane is the daughter of Diane and Frank Rush of Putnam Valley.
Rachel Fitzgerald is PVMS student government president and has been a senator as well. As an active Putnam Valley PTA volunteer she ran multiple booths at the PTA Fun Fair and baby-sat during PTA meetings. Rachel is involved in the PVMS Go Green Club and developed and presented a PowerPoint presentation to the whole student body. She participated in Safe Kids, a PVMS program that trains seventh graders to teach safety messages to elementary school students. She is also an athlete involved in many sports and plays the flute. Rachel is the daughter of Valerie and Joe Fitzgerald of Cortlandt Manor.

Mrs. Linda Cefaloni, Co-Advisor (with Mrs. Pam Adamovich) of the PVHS Make A Difference Club, who nominated Kerri LoPuzzo for the Youth Award, shared Kerri’s resume: Whether she is helping her sister with MS at home, or helping raise money for Make A Difference Day Projects, Kerri embraces the spirit of volunteerism and lives the mission of service to others. This year as president of the Make A Difference Club, Kerri spearheaded efforts to raise over $3000 for Touching Tiny Lives, an organization that cares for AIDS babies in Africa. Kerri also was also involved in making Care Packages for soldiers overseas, Midnight Run for the Homeless, Foster Kids Fun Day, Senior Citizen Dinner, Special Olympics, and Relay for Life Cancer Walk. She also organized her own team for an AIDS Walk, served residents at St Christopher’s Inn, and collected holiday Toys for Tots through her Youth Group. She has helped raise money for St. Jude and Blythedale Children’s Hospitals, caroled at nursing homes, and has shoveled snow for the elderly as a Snow Angel. Kerri is also a talented athlete and artist. She is the daughter of Marge and Frank LoPuzzo of Lake Peekskill.
Each year Putnam County selects various young people from around the county to receive this award. PVMS Assistant Principal, Dr. David Fine, commented, “These students have gone above and beyond with regard to their in and out of school activities. Through dedicated service and commitment they have improved the lives of their classmates and others around them.” PVHS Assistant Principal, Sam Oliverio, Jr., said, “These students have been outstanding members of our school community. Their involvement in many service oriented organizations within our school and in Putnam Valley itself plus their willingness to always assist and volunteer when a need arises, makes these young people true representatives of all that is good and great with today's youth. Congratulations to them all.”

The annual Youth Awards Dinner was held on Friday, April 11th, at the Mahopac Golf Club at 7pm. For more than 20 years this event has been co-hosted by the Youth Bureau and Youth Board each year to thank some of Putnam’s exemplary volunteers for their dedication and their cumulative community service efforts. The Youth Awards Process begins each January with the nomination of outstanding youth volunteers between the ages of 13 and 21. Nomination forms are mailed out to individuals and agencies in the Putnam community in the hope that they will bring some fine candidates to the attention of the Board. For more information on the Putnam County Youth Bureau, visit http://www.putnamcountyny.com/youthbureau/about.htm.