Presidential award given to volunteer

Staff report

WARREN

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, presented the Presidential Volunteer Service Award on Monday to Nicolette Darkangelo of Champion, a volunteer for the past nine years at the Camelot Center in Southington.

The Camelot Center is a therapeutic horse-riding program geared toward people with physical, developmental, emotional, or mental disabilities, mostly children.

“Volunteering has always been a big part of my life,” Darkangelo said. Ryan presented her with a certificate and pin.

Ryan said the award is for those who have contributed at least 500 hours and was given first in 2003.

To date, the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation has partnered with more than 80 leadership organizations and more than 28,000 certifying organizations to bestow more than 1.5 million awards to volunteers.

Darkangelo, who works as a service-and-support administrator for the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities, serves as a volunteer coordinator at Camelot.

Riding a horse helps clients improve muscle tone, improves balance and loosens muscles by mimicking the motions of human walking, Darkangelo said.

Darkangelo served an internship in Ryan’s office in 2008 and 2009 while working on her master’s degree at Youngstown State University.