“As daunting a burden as the COVID-19 pandemic is by itself, it also magnifies racial inequality and other societal fissures,” Angelica Berrie writes in a Star-Ledger guest column. “Challenging times like these can be softened by extraordinary individuals who see a need and step up.”
Five years before his death, she writes, “my husband Russell Berrie created a way to salute New Jersey’s unsung heroes—everyday people who, over the course of a lifetime, or in the flash of a moment, made their neighborhood, community, state or society as a whole a better, safer, healthier place.” Nominations for the 2021 Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award are open until Feb. 12.