Steadfast Service
WERTHEIMER FELLOW AWARDS HONOR DEDICATED COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS
By Gina Gallucia-White
Photography by Turner Photography Studio
When the Community Foundation of Frederick County asks for nominations for its annual Wertheimer Fellow Awards, CEO Elizabeth Y. Day is always impressed by the outstanding submissions. “It makes you proud to be part of a community that places so much value and commitment on volunteer service.”
Named for late businesswoman and volunteer Janis Miller Wertheimer, the awards were created more than two decades ago when the Frederick resident left the foundation a generous donation through her estate to support community organizations.
“Her volunteer work was a way of staying connected as well as giving back,” Day says of Wertheimer. “She was very generous with her time as well as her treasure. She was concerned about current state of affairs but also had a long-term view on the impact she wanted to create.”
Adult award winners receive $25,000 each to create a new charitable fund or add to an existing one to support organizations and causes of their choice. The youth award was created in 2012 and gives recipients $2,000 to present to the nonprofit of their choice.
This year’s adult recipients are Patricia Rosensteel and Sharon Jacko. Youth awardees are Ilka Tona and Pragna Yalamanchili.
“I think all four of our honorees this year are inspirational,” Day says. “Our young folks are giving so much back to their communities. They are finding a need and filling it which puts great faith back into this generation that is coming up. With our two adult awardees, I just look at them and say, ‘Wow. What a great way to continue to be involved in retirement and to create impact for us all.’”
PATRICIA ROSENSTEEL
With a career that included time as director of Frederick County Head Start and the county’s Citizens Services Division, Patricia Rosensteel saw firsthand the needs of local families. So, when it came time to volunteer, she chose causes that focus on families and how they deal with their economic situations and other stressors in their lives.
Since retiring, Rosensteel is nearly full time with her volunteer commitments. She has served in various roles over the years for Children of Incarcerated Parents Partnership and has been the organization’s board president for nearly two years. She is a member of the Frederick County United Way Community Impact Committee, Frederick County Local Management Board, the Zonta Club of Frederick, the Frederick County Interagency Early Childhood Committee, Maryland 2-1-1 and Frederick County ACEs Workgroup.
“I feel like I still have something to offer,” she says. “I feel like what you know you owe. … I can’t even imagine staying home and not doing this work knowing those needs are out there and doing something about it. You’ve got to feel like you are making some kind of a difference even if it is a small piece.”
With her award money, she chose to create The Rosensteel Family Fund Grant to support basic family needs of women and children.
SHARON JACKO
When Sharon Jacko retired as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Marines Corps in 2008, she had a plan. “I made a pledge to myself that I wanted to give back to the community I loved,” she says.
She did that by volunteering with several local organizations over the years. She served in leadership roles with Heartly House, the United Way of Frederick County, the Frederick County Veterans Advisory Council, the Literacy Council of Frederick County, the Frederick County Health Care Coalition and the Rotary Club of Carroll Creek. “It is our civic duty to help the community we are in,” Jacko says. “That’s what drives me.”
When picking an organization to support, Jacko notes she has to have a passion for the mission. “I have to believe in what they are doing and how they are helping the community and its citizens,” she says.
Military causes are close to her, so Jacko started the Sharon and Jeanne Jacko Veterans Fund at the Community Foundation. Her sister Jeanne was also a U.S. Marine and the sisters want the fund to benefit nonprofits assisting veterans. Jacko hopes the fund aids veterans in need and provides them information and resources about the community’s support.
ILKA TONA
A native of Rwanda, Ilka Tona was first drawn to volunteering through tradition in her culture. Umuganda is a holiday held on the last Saturday or Sunday of the month where people volunteer for their community or home.
“It’s all about collective action for the community and it is, in part, the reason I’ve always been inclined to volunteerism even after leaving Rwanda,” she says. “I have always felt that intrinsic inclination to help others wherever and however I can. The collectivist culture certainly shaped my love for volunteering, and I have carried through life.”
A 2023 graduate Middletown High School, Tona was a member of the school’s Key Club, where she president her senior year. Through the organization, she helped to organize service projects to support area nonprofits, including Sleep In Heavenly Peace Frederick, the Frederick County Humane Society, the Linus Project, Friends of the Library, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Friends and Hurwitz Breast Cancer Fund, as well as seasonal food drives.
Tona also volunteered at Frederick Health Hospital and New Life Seventh-day Adventist Church in Gaithersburg. She was the student member of the Frederick County Immigrant Affairs Commission from 2022 to 2023.
Tona, who now attends Emory University, chose to give her award money to the Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership (SHIP). “I sincerely hope that (the money) does go to help even one or two people dealing with student homelessness in Frederick County,” she says. “I just hope it has a local impact.”
PRAGNA YALAMANCHILI
A senior at Oakdale High School, Pragna Yalamanchili became interested in volunteering during her sophomore year. She joined the Environmental Club and worked on various waste-reduction efforts around the school, including compost bin monitoring and classroom recycling. Oakdale placed 10th in the nation this year in the Trex Plastic Film Recycling Challenge, collecting 3,302 pounds of soft plastic.
Yalamanchili is also a member of Interact Club, a high school branch of Rotary, where she organized two lithium battery recycling drives collecting 7,600 pounds of rechargeable batteries. She also assisted with parking and raising donations for club projects while volunteering at Frederck’s Oktoberfest and is working on redecorating Oakdale’s teachers’ lounges. She has also volunteered with the Delaplaine Arts Center.
“I just think [volunteering] is one of the most rewarding things you can do with your time,” Yalamanchili says. She enjoys “the feeling of being able to make a difference and doing something important.”
With a passion for environmentalism, she gave her grant money to Lunch Out of Landfills, a Rotary initiative that works to start composting programs in schools. The initiative began in Frederick County in 2018 and aims to expand statewide. “I just really hope that that money can be used to buy composting bins and liquid bins so that schools that want to participate but may not have the support or the funds can do so,” she says.