The Marblehead Counseling Center has announced the winners of its inaugural Amy Saltz Community Champions Award and Community Service Scholarship Program.
“I can’t tell you how thrilled we are to announce Anne Tassel-Todisco of Marblehead as our Community Champions Award winner and Camila Ferrer Gomez of Danvers as the winner of our scholarship,” said Ruth Ferguson, president of the MCC board of directors. “These are two really, really special people. We’re so proud to be able to honor them.”
The Amy Saltz Community Champions Award recognizes the significant, ongoing contributions of an area resident with a passion for helping others. Named for the late Amy R. Saltz of Marblehead, a patron and former patient of MCC, Saltz spent her life volunteering in the community and lived the philosophy of paying it forward.
“Amy personified giving, generosity of spirit, and genuine care for others,” said Rabbi David Meyer, Rabbi Emeritus at Temple Emanu-El in Marblehead and a friend of Saltz’s for 30 years.
According to MCC board member Pam Shorr, Tassel-Todisco embodies that same spirit as she is a “whirlwind of philanthropic activity.” She sits on many boards, like Marblehead Pickleball, and is a regular volunteer with Life Bridge, SPUR, the Marblehead Festival of Arts and more. She also is a precinct warden for national, state and town elections, and for the last two years, Tassel-Todisco has volunteered at local blood drives around town.
According to Myra Sussman, who nominated her, Tassel-Todisco is always the first to volunteer for fundraisers and charitable events. She added that Tassel-Todisco recently organized weeks of food preparation and delivery for a friend whose child had undergone open heart surgery.
Sussman continued, stating that when Tassel-Todisco isn’t volunteering officially, she is often found with a hot glue gun, a hammer and some zip ties while she fixes up the pickleball courts at the Jewish Community Center.
“Anne is so positive and supportive,” Sussman said. “She makes everyone in her orbit feel her unbound love.”
The winner of MCC’s $1,000 Community Service Scholarship Program is Ferrer Gomez, a high school senior and Danvers resident. She attends Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School and plans to attend Boston University this fall to study biochemistry and molecular biology.
Through Essex Tech, Ferrer Gomez works at a biopharmaceutical company that is the middle of developing microbiome therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. She said that working in such a high-risk environment has taught her the importance of precision, careful planning and effective time management.
“It has also made me increasingly aware of healthcare disparities,” Ferrer Gomez added, “and I am driven to address them in my career. I aspire to promote access to medical advancements for underserved communities.”
Ferrer Gomez has also been a Massachusetts State Referee for soccer for three years. She said that as a young female official, she often faces discrimination on the field, but she recently met a young girl who was inspired by her to become a referee.
“It reaffirmed my commitment to officiating and advocating for female representation in the sport,” she said.
She is now a mentor in the Danvers Youth Soccer Program and hopes to continue working for equal representation of women in male-dominated fields in the future.
For more than 55 years, the Marblehead Counseling Center has provided social and mental health services to families and individuals.
“Recognizing the many ways our community supports one another when in need is critical,” said Ferguson. “There are countless individuals who step in to lend a hand, and they are all champions.”
Ferguson added that it’s a high point for the Center to publicly recognize Tassel-Todisco and Ferrer Gomez as the winners, and she is looking forward to the Community Champions Celebration May 1 at the Beacon.
“It’s so nice to have something really positive and exciting on the calendar!” she said.
There will be live music, signature cocktails, raffles, prizes and, of course, the award presentation. Tickets, which are $75 and available to purchase at tinyurl.com/champions-celebration, to the event help support the ongoing work of MCC and its mission to provide affordable, quality mental health care and social services to Marblehead and surrounding towns.
