 
Senate Resolution No. 3265
 
BY: Senator BRESLIN
 
        COMMENDING  Sandra  Olson upon the occasion of her
        selection to represent the  Capital  Region  in  the
        national  Jefferson  Awards competition in a virtual
        event to be conducted in September of 2020
 
  WHEREAS, It is incumbent upon the people of the State of New York to
recognize and acknowledge outstanding individuals within our  midst  who
have made significant contributions to the quality of life therein; and
 
  WHEREAS,  A  great  community  is only as great as those persons and
organizations  that   provide   exemplary   service,   whether   through
participation in voluntary programs or simply through a lifetime of good
citizenship; and
 
  WHEREAS,  This  Legislative  Body  is justly proud to commend Sandra
Olson upon the occasion of her selection to represent the Capital Region
in the national Jefferson Awards competition in a virtual  event  to  be
conducted in September of 2020; and
 
  WHEREAS, The Jefferson Awards are a prestigious national recognition
program  which honors community and public service throughout the United
States; and
 
  WHEREAS, In 1972, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, United States  Senator
Robert  Taft,  Jr.  and  Sam Beard, Chairman of the National Development
Council, founded the American Institute for Public Service to  establish
a  "Nobel  Prize"  for public and community service on both the national
and local level, the Jefferson Awards; and
 
  WHEREAS,  The  Jefferson  Awards,  whose  stated  mission   is   "to
recognize,  inspire  and  activate  volunteerism  and  public service in
communities, workplaces and schools across America," serve as a "Call to
Action for Volunteers"; and
 
  WHEREAS,  On  the  local  level,  Jefferson  Awards  recipients  are
ordinary  people  who  do  extraordinary  things  without expectation of
recognition or reward,  while  national  award  recipients  represent  a
"Who's Who" of outstanding Americans; and
 
  WHEREAS,   A   retired  teacher  from  Jamestown  Elementary  School
District,  Sandra  Olson  has  assisted  hundreds  of  students  improve
academically  and  socially  by  offering  one-on-one  homework  help to
children  with   developmental,   social,   emotional   and   behavioral
challenges; and
 
  WHEREAS, Sandra Olson of Albany, New York, has volunteered more than
2,000  hours  the past four years teaching students in the homework room
and supervising retired teacher volunteers in the South  End  Children's
Cafe; and
 
  WHEREAS,  Furthermore,  this  impressive  woman  hosts a dinner each
night in the homework room called the Manners Cafe, where a small  group
of  children  eat  together  and  practice  their  manners; Sandra Olson
 
encourages academic achievement,  enhances  self-esteem  and  helps  the
children believe in themselves; and
 
  WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that when a person
of such noble aims and accomplishments is brought to our attention it is
appropriate  to  publicly  proclaim and commend them for the edification
and emulation of others; now, therefore, be it
 
  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commend Sandra Olson upon the occasion of her selection to represent the
Capital  Region in the national Jefferson Awards competition, noting her
exemplary service to her community and extending to her  heartfelt  best
wishes  for a future of continued purposeful success and well-being; and
be it further
 
  RESOLVED, That a copy of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted to Sandra Olson.
Sandra Olson - Jefferson Award

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