Charlie Kojeski has been selected as the M-V Rotary Club’s 2011 Citizen of the Year.
Rotarian Paul Zetts, Sr. said that Charlie exemplifies the Rotary’s motto, “Service above Self”.
He has grown up in the construction business, has worked hard to learn every facet of this vocation, and has built or renovated a great many homes over the years. Now he is president of his own construction company.
Charlie and his company have received numerous awards and individual letters of thanks from the people he has built houses for throughout the years. One award that is particularly noteworthy is the prestigious, American Dream Award that was presented to the Kojeski Construction Company by the New Jersey Builders Association.
However, his greatest reward has been to give back to his community.
Charlie volunteers a great deal of his time and energies raising money to pay for much
needed repairs and renovations of the homes for those in need. He has spearheaded an effort to assemble various groups of volunteers to help build handicapped ramps for challenged children and for returning war veterans that have been injured. These ramps have helped them to easily enter and exit their homes.
When a war veteran returned home after being seriously injured and paralyzed during his tour of duty in Afghanistan, Charlie extended a helping hand. He and his company joined with the organization, “Homes for our Troops.”
Along with other construction firms, his company helped build a new home for this wounded hero and his family. It is a home this veteran and his family can call their own and it has been designed to allow him to move freely from room to room and become more independent.
In a letter to all concerned the veteran said, “Thank you is not a good enough response for what you have all done. We truly are speechless when it comes to our gratitude for this gift that has been given to us.”
Currently, Charlie is contributing his time and talents to providing extensive repairs to the home of an autistic child. Once completed, this child’s life and that of his family will be much more comfortable.
At the end of his presentation, Paul Zetts, Sr. said, this man is very deserving of the 2011 Citizen of the Year Award and the Medford-Vincentown Rotary Club is very proud to present it to him.
