Township Resident Honored In ‘Positive Aging’ Program

Somerset County Freeholder Director Patrick Scaglione, left, and Laurie Roome from the county Office on Aging and Disability Services present “Profile of Positive Aging” certificate to township resident Roslyn Zuccarelli Gerken.

A Franklin resident was one of five Somerset County residents recently honored at a “Profiles of Positive Aging” program.

Roslyn Zuccarelli Gerken was nominated by Jill Wodnick and Gwenn Noel, according to a release on the awards. Gerken has provided volunteer services to improve the safety and health of others in the community and has acted as an “ambassador” at Middlebush Reformed Church for Body & Soul, a 3-year initiative from the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, where she has shared information and led classes on nutrition, cooking, exercise, stress reduction, health and safety.

She is a member of NJ BirthNetwork, an alliance focusing on the well-being of mothers, babies and families and has has volunteered with CINJ’s kids program to prevent smoking and substance abuse.  She also helped paint the Group Home in Somerset last year.

Gerken is a certified Laughter Yoga instructor of free-flow laughter that reduces stress and boosts happiness, according to the release.

She is a recently certified teacher of Ageless Grace and has led such exercises informally and impromptu on bus rides in Florida, poolside in Naples, and even in the food court at Menlo Park Mall.

As 27-year cancer survivor, Gerken volunteers for various studies for the Cancer Experience Registry and also for national DNA studies, according to the release. She has ridden every year for 20 years in the Tour de Franklin, an annual April fundraiser for the Franklin Township Food Bank, and has raised funds for annual September Walk for the Steeplechase Cancer Center/Somerset Medical Center.

The awards, given by Somerset County Freeholder Director Patrick Scaglione and Laurie Roome of the county’s Office on Aging and Disability Services, were distributed during the county’s observance of Older Americans Month.

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