Since its grand opening in 2021, the link has made several volunteer opportunities available to local high school students. This year, four teen Volunteers of the Year were selected.
Jackson Blasy, a junior at Beachside High School was born in Michigan and moved to South Texas in 2018. His family moved to Jacksonville last year. Jackson plans to study business and sports management at the University of Central Florida.
Emre Ulger, a senior at Allen D. Nease High School, was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and moved to Florida when he was 12 years old. He has enjoyed helping people ever since he was a child and has tried to find a way to have a positive impact on others. He enjoys hanging out with his friends, working out, cooking, reading, playing guitar and wood carving. He wants to study biomedical sciences in college and follow that path throughout his life.
Isabella Bertuglia, a junior at Allen D. Nease High School, moved to Florida from New York about two years ago. Family beach days are one of her favorite things to do. Spending time with her family is one thing that is very important to her. In her spare time, she loves to play tennis with her sister.
She is involved with the Link Crew Club and loves to help incoming students adjust and show them around. She said her favorite class is probably American Sign Language.
She works at the Nocatee pools and enjoys greeting all the residents. In the future she would like to attend college in Florida. Working with and helping kids is something she is very much interested in for her profession. Volunteering at the link has given her the opportunity to realize how much she loves working with children.
Daneilla Bertuglia is a sophomore at Allen D. Nease High School. Her family moved to Nocatee from New York about two years ago. This was a big transition but one Danella is grateful for. She loves spending her free time with her family and friends.
Daneilla enjoys ceramics classes. In addition to volunteering at the link, she also works at the Nocatee pools greeting all the residents. Volunteering and working have allowed her to meet many new people. She plans to attend college in Florida. Her family is important to her, therefore she wants to stay close to them.
The link is located at 425 Town Plaza Ave., Ponte Vedra Beach. For further information, go to thelink.zone.