Worcester, Mass. - Zoe I. Cohen, of Ross, Calif., will soon receive a Jefferson Award for Public Service, a very special award that encourages and honors individuals for their achievements and contributions through public and community service, in recognition of the documentary she produced while a Clark University senior for the nonprofit organization Meals of Marin (M.O.M.). Cohen and her mom Jo will be recognized this month at a volunteer appreciation event where they will each be presented with a Jefferson Awards certificate, as well as the Jefferson pin.
The Jefferson Awards are prestigious awards bestowed on elected officials, celebrities, sports personalities and ordinary citizens, both young and old, for recognition of service. According to their Web site, individuals who have been recognized in the past with Jefferson Awards include Jimmy Carter, Lee Iacocca, Paul Newman, Lance Armstrong and Peyton Manning.
Zoe was nominated for the award by Carola Detrick, executive director and founder of M.O.M. This past year, Zoe directed and produced a documentary for M.O.M., an organization based in San Rafael, Calif., that provides meals homebound people with life-threatening illnesses. She decided to create the documentary after she became familiar with the organization's work and mission when her mom started volunteering for them two years ago. Zoe and her mother would volunteer together at M.O.M. whenever she was home from Clark on break.
"I went to a Quaker school, which placed a lot of emphasis on the importance of volunteer work," she said.
"[I thought] the fact that these people, many of whom are quite shy and possibly embarrassed of their illness, can receive food to their doorstep is a very special thing," she said. "I hope that I was able to show the important impact M.O.M. has on the community and how important their cause is even when they are working to help only one person. I wanted to make sure that even more people could find out about their important work."
Cohen filmed her 16-minute documentary in two days and spent time during the summer of '06 working on it. Her project was funded through the Bickman Music and Arts Summer Internship.
"I deeply appreciate Zoe's work," said Detrick, who nominated the mother/daughter duo for the Jefferson Award. "The piece on Meals on Marin is a wonderful documentary, thoughtfully put together and with a profound grasp and great sensitivity for our mission. It has been such a pleasure to experience Zoe at work, and the result is amazing."
Detrick, who founded M.O.M. in March of 1993 after witnessing her mom's passing due to breast cancer, felt she needed to do something to help people living with serious life-threatening illnesses. Her agency now serves two meals a day to 165 clients with the help of approximately 150 volunteers.
Detrick believes the documentary is the "perfect way" to educate people about her organization and its mission and hopes it will ignite a spark in someone somewhere and will provide enough information to others about how they can start up similar nonprofit agencies. She plans to distribute the documentary to possible funders and volunteers, and is using it to attract new board members to her organization.
"It tells the complete story (of M.O.M.) in a heartwarming way," she said. "It's opening doors without having to say a whole lot more (about the organization)."
Cohen produced three other documentaries for various video production courses, but this was the first documentary she produced using outside funding. Her first documentary was about One Love Cafe, which is located on Main Street. She made two other documentaries with fellow student Callie Osborne, one which explored how friends felt about wearing glasses, and another featuring Downhill Battle, a nonprofit organization located in Worcester that promotes a fairer music industry.
Kevin Anderson, visiting assistant professor of screen studies at Clark, said Cohen's video projects are "entertaining, thought provoking, and challenge the conventions of the medium."
"She has a very bright future ahead of her," he said.
"Meals of Marin" was shown this spring at the Reality Bytes Student Documentary Film Festival at the Northern Illinois University. That festival, sponsored by the University's Department of Communications, featured over twenty documentaries created by students from all over the U.S.
Cohen graduated from Clark University magna cum laude with her bachelor of arts degree in screen studies and studio art on May 20. She is the daughter of Jo and Marc Cohen of Ross, Calif. She is a 2003 graduate of the Carolina Friends School in Durham, North Carolina.