[ back ]
A busy man gets the job done
(by Karen F. Mrnarevic - January 23, 2008)
|
STAFF PHOTO BY KAREN F. MRNAREVIC
Paul Camella was recently named by the Woodcliff Lake Educational Foundation as the recipient of the 2008 Person of the Year Award for Excellence in Education.
|
Despite her attempts to keep her husband at home, Anna Camella is forced to share her husband Paul with a very demanding mistress – community service.
“She has told me not to join another club or go to any more meetings,” says Camella of his wife’s futile efforts, but the Woodcliff Lake Councilman is a veritable volunteer-junkie. He sees the time he spends in service to the community as a small sacrifice. “You know what, you somehow find the time,” he says. Although, he adds, “I don’t watch a lot of TV.”
Camella was recently named by the Woodcliff Lake Educational Foundation as the recipient of the 2008 Person of the Year Award for Excellence in Education. He began volunteering with WCLEF when his children were in elementary school, serving in numerous capacities, including secretary, vice president, and president. More than a decade later, with both of his kids now out of high school, Camella is still there, now serving as the chairman. He plans to remain active with the WCLEF into the foreseeable future. “It’s a wonderful group.”
Over the years, the WCLEF has taken the initiative, as Camella says, to “raise money to buy things that the school, with its budget limitations, may not be able to buy for our kids.” He says that the group raises a good portion of its money through corporate sponsorship of the Woodcliff Run for Education, an annual event involving a total of about 500 to 600 people, according to Camella, who has served as the event’s coordinator for many years. “BMW is the main sponsor,” he says, and “the town helps out with police and ambulance service.”
The WCLEF holds other events throughout the year to raise funds. “We do some fun things,” says Camella. There is a Casino Night, and an upcoming “Awesome 80s” party. He estimates that over the 20 years the group has been in existence, it has raised approximately $500,000. “But there is still always plenty of need,” he points out.
Among his proudest achievements with the WCLEF is the renovation of the library at the
Dorchester
Elementary School . “They didn’t have it in the budget,” says Camella. “It was overdue, and it needed to be done.”
He also recalls redoing the playground at
Dorchester . “I learned a lot about playground equipment,” he laughs, remembering the detailed guidelines of the project, with regard to equipment safety and ground cushioning. “I grew up in the
Bronx , where you had a monkey bar on the concrete. If you fell, you fell.” Headaches notwithstanding, the $100,000 project was a success, and without the aid of the WCLEF, says Camella, it may never have gotten done.
Another achievement of the WCLEF that Camella takes pride in was funding audio-visual equipment for
Woodcliff
Middle School , specifically “Smart Boards,” an interactive blackboard that is wirelessly connected to a computer. At the time, “only the most expensive private schools” were able to afford the technology, he says.
While at first, using the technology was a somewhat daunting prospect for the school’s teachers, Camella says that the students seem very engaged by it. The foundation receives requests for more of the boards every year, and the program is expanding. “It’s not a cheap request, but it’s worth it,” he says, “On their own, the schools couldn’t have done it… If we didn’t buy these things, either the kids wouldn’t have them or taxpayers would have to pay for them.”
Camella says that there are more exciting projects to come on the WCLEF agenda. For instance, the foundation plans to raise money to construct a Japanese garden on what is currently unused space outside of
Woodcliff
School . The space will include reading areas and possibly be the site of an ecology education center, where students can learn about watershed ecology and conservation.
The foundation has already received preliminary pricing for the project and projects it will cost about $75,000. Camella plans to approach various corporate sponsors. “It’s very doable, we just need the funding for it,” he says, adding that he feels it is the kind of thing various corporations would be interested in donating toward.
In the meantime, Camella keeps himself busy as a member of the Woodcliff Lake Council and as the President of the
Woodcliff
Lake chapter of UNICO, and Italian American service organization. He finds being involved in UNICO “very satisfying,” for what it is able to achieve within the community.
“We do a beefsteak [dinner] every year and raise money for a local cause. This year we are doing it for CJ Personette,” says Camella, referring to a local boy who suffered brain a injury in a bicycling accident in September of 2007, “The money we raise will be put toward his rehabilitation.”
Camella frequently turns his hobbies into full-blown commitments. For instance, his fascination with boating recently led him to join the Coast Guard Auxiliary, a uniformed volunteer component of the US Coast Guard. Asked how he finds enough hours in the days for his numerous projects and group meetings, Camella says, “There’s an old saying: ‘If you want to get something done, you give it to a busy man.’”
Paul Camella is just that.
Karen F. Mrnarevic's e-mail address is Mrnarevic@northjersey.com. To comment on this article, visit www.pvcommunitylife.com
[ back ]
