SUMMIT, NJ — At the Common Council meeting on Tuesday, March 15, Annette Dwyer of Summit was recognized by Mayor Nora Radest and members of Common Council with the 2022 Volunteer of the Year Award for her more than 20 years of dedicated service to the Summit community.
“I was very honored to present the Volunteer of the Year Award to Annette Dwyer at last night’s council meeting,” explains Summit Mayor Nora Radest. “Council and I established this award four years ago to honor individual Summit residents who have made significant contributions to the Summit community through their time, actions, and dedication outside any volunteer work done for an employer. Annette Dwyer is the embodiment of this ideal.”
Dwyer has been a leader of Shaping Summit Together since 2003 and spearheads the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Justice, Equality and Service to Others; the One Book, One Community Initiative; and the Red Ribbon Awareness Program. Dwyer served on the Mayor’s Partnership for Summit Public Arts from 2011 to 2015.
In 2012, Dwyer opened Mondo on Springfield Avenue, now a thriving member of the downtown community. Her goal for the building was to honor “community, diversity, enrichment of small business, and social and economic empowerment.”
“We have awarded Annette Dwyer with this recognition for her indefatigable efforts to create and maintain open communication among all of the various interest groups in our city,” said the mayor. “Those who know Annette have watched her over the years work tirelessly to bring disparate groups together, to bridge divergent opinions with the utmost caring, sincerity and humility. She is a role model to all of us, and we are grateful for her service in this way to our community.”
Past recipients of the Volunteer of the Year Award include the Rev. Denison Harrield, Beth Lovejoy, Marian Glenn and Tom O’Rourke.
Photo Courtesy of Amy Cairns/Summit