No Pay, No Problem: Kranz Earns Volunteer Award

Jeff Kranz comes from a family of volunteers. Dad Tom volunteers as an EMT with the Fanwood Rescue Squad and works at an assisted living home during the day. Mom Marianne worked for Meals on Wheels in the community before taking up a full time job with the program's parent organization, SAGE Eldercare. His older brother, Dan, works as a dispatcher with the local police and also volunteers with the Fanwood Rescue Squad.

So it comes as no surprise that Kranz, with his childhood friend Marissa Sacca, was this year's SAGE Eldercare volunteer of the month.

Except to Kranz, that is.

"My mom just kind of threw it on me," he said in a telephone interview.  "I wasn't prepared. She said, 'Oh, there's an article in the [SAGE] newsletter that you won the volunteer of the month.' I said, 'What are you talking about?' It was kind of cool."

Kranz, 18, started volunteering in the community when he was 6 years old. He helped his mother while she volunteered at Meals on Wheels, then helped when she was hired full-time by SAGE Eldercare.

"My mom is director of Meals On Wheels and I started off doing volunteer work at age six. Then she got a full-time job and I would go to work with her a few days a week.

Few clear memories stick in Jeff's mind. But he does remember some things. "The biggest thing I remember was working on the food deliveries," he said. "I was the little kid who was treated like one of the grandchildren by the little old ladies, and they'd give me candy and food."

As he got older, Jeff started to take-on more responsibilities.

"Later I would do the shopping service, going to the shops for people … I would also do paperwork in the office … These days I work in the kitchen more, setting up the meals to be picked up by the other volunteers."

Jeff said he cannot put an exact figure on the amount of hours he volunteers these days. Like his dad and his brother, he is also a volunteer EMT for Fanwood, and he still contributes time to Meals on Wheels.

"With the rescue squad, it's hard to say how many hours you spend volunteering," he said, "because we don't go and sit for a set shift in the rescue squad headquarters. When the call goes out, it goes out to people's homes."

At SAGE, he said, he typically volunteers from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. He also occasionally works longer shifts with his mother, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

On top of this, he has a few other things to consider in his life. "I work on weekends at a driving range at Edison," he said. "I'm the cashier there. I have summer assignments for school, too. [And] I'm about to go to college." In the fall, Kranz will attend The College of New Jersey, where he intends to major in political science.

He ultimately hopes to pursue a career with an international focus. "I would love to go to Germany, see where my grandparents lived," he said. "I'd love to work in the State Department."

Until then, however, Jeff and his family will focus on contributing locally. "We've been volunteers at heart for so long," he said. "It's really cool to be part of it."