Spotlight: Kimberly Jenkins

Kimberly Jenkins has tirelessly worked to enrich the lives of those in the neighborhood she grew up in and the middle school she once attended. Jenkins, a customer service representative with Verizon Telecom Regional Operations in Queens NY, volunteers through the Parent Teacher Association school leadership team at Middle School 53 in Far Rockaway, her former Junior High School, and the school her son currently attends. She also volunteers with the Verizon Foundation's annual employee collection drive campaigns like Season's Readings and Shower for the Shelter.

For Jenkins volunteering is a very personal matter; the children that she helps are children of her friends or are new residents who need help finding programs in the community.

She uses the skills she has acquired over the years as well as in her work for Verizon to better bridge the gap between parents and faculty. This allows parents to congregate and discuss ideas that will better their children's experiences as students. "I have decided to dedicate my life to service. To devote my talents, knowledge and wisdom to helping others," said Jenkins. "I want to play a part in the change that this world is under. To have a voice in a world where everyone is told silence is golden. To stand up and say this is not the way things have to be just because they have always been."

Jenkins volunteers almost every chance she can and has enriched the lives of countless people. She is a very important part of her community as well as her workplace. "My community means a lot to me and I strive to be a leader by example."