04/23/2015
Johanna Baniak, a Stratton VA volunteer since 2002, was honored on Monday April 20th and presented with the Albany County Executive’s Volunteer Service Award. While the Executive’s Office receives hundreds of nominations, only seven people receive this award each year.
Johanna is Chair of the Veterans Committee of the Watervliet Elks Lodge #1500 and is a past Elks Exalted Ruler. In addition to this award, she will also be recognized at the Stratton VA Employee Awards Ceremony where Director, Linda Weiss will present her with a 5,000 hour award.
Johanna is at the hospital every weekend where she and her husband Ed make popcorn and ice cream for inpatient Veterans and their families. This husband and wife team is well known by Veterans and staff. Some of the recent donations made by the Elks post #1500 have supported the installation of television fish tanks and a new Mac Book Pro laptop for our Music Therapy Program. The Elks are also huge supporters of Project Lifesaver, a program specifically designed for “At Risk” individuals who are prone to the life threatening behavior of wandering. Johanna is a driving force when it comes to fundraising and volunteer recruitment.
Johanna is just one of over 900 volunteers at the Stratton VA, one very worthy of this honor. She has made the Veterans of Stratton a priority in her life for 13 years and plans on continuing to do so for many years to come. We are incredibly honored to have her and we look forward to her continued service.