Youth assistance group names two volunteers of the year
A Waterford high school student and a police officer have been named Waterford Youth Assistance’s most impactful community members of 2020.
Andy Tarajos, a 23-year member of the Waterford Police Department, was named the nonprofit’s 2020 Volunteer of the Year. Sarahfay Hendin, a senior at Waterford Kettering High School, was this year’s $1,000 Betty Fortino Scholarship Award winner.
Waterford Youth Assistance, which will turn 60 years old next year, works to empower local youth, provide scholarships and family education programs. Each year the nonprofit honors one volunteer and one youth who have made a difference in the community.
Tarajos, a native of Troy, received his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Ferris State University in 1997. He married his high school sweetheart, Karrie, that same year before moving to Waterford. The two now have a daughter in college. For over two decades, Tarajos has served on road patrol or as a police liaison in nine Waterford schools. In 2015, he was awarded by the police department for his service to mentoring youth.
Tarajos has volunteered with the Waterford Youth Assistance Board of Directors, referring youth to casework services when needed. He’s held shoplifting prevention programs for fifth graders and coached several Waterford girls’ lacrosse teams on top of his work with the police department.
The Betty Fortino Scholarship Award, named after the former township clerk and longtime youth assistance volunteer, is given to students who have overcome challenges in life.
Hendin, a 12th grader seeking to study the performing arts, said it was the death of her grandmother in seventh grade that set her on the path to the stage. She was shaken and lost focus in school and in her personal life. In middle school, she discovered musical theater. Through her work in various performances and clubs, Hendin said she began to find herself again.
Now as a senior, she’s president of the high school’s drama club, a member of the National Honor Society, Link Crew, Chamber Choir and a student thespian officer for the state. She’s also earned a 4.0 GPA. Hendin said she plans to study to become a theater teacher to help spread the same passion she found in Waterford schools.