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Determined to better their local community, best friends Hannah Friedman and Shira Wasserman, both 9th graders at Churchill Junior High School in East Brunswick, decided to reach out to one of their less fortunate peers.

So through the Friendship Circle, an organization run by the Chabad of Western Monmouth County that provides support to the disabled and their families, Hannah and Shira connected to a young girl their age, Eliza Israel, who has multiple disabilities. Together the girls went to the movies, bowling, and had sleepovers at each other's homes.

On May 27, Hannah and Shira were among the 22 Middlesex County youth honored at the Good Deed Awards for New Jersey Teens, a project of the Chabad of East Brunswick, for their contributions to their community as exemplified by the girls' friendship with Eliza.

"They are more than my special friends, they are like my sisters," Eliza told the audience after Hannah and Shira were presented with their awards.

"To me, this makes me the proudest," Hannah's father, Bruce Friedman, told The Jewish State.

The Good Deed Awards for New Jersey Teens, now in its third year, is an annual program that awards Middlesex County youth for their volunteerism. Together the award recipients accumulated thousands of community service hours, volunteering at environmental initiatives, working with special-needs children, visiting and assisting the elderly, and working in animal shelters. Recipients of the award received college scholarships ranging from $250 to $1,800.

At the May 27 ceremony at the East Brunswick Courthouse, parents, community leaders, and politicians gathered to honor the awardees, who were selected through a process in which nominees were evaluated and selected by East Brunswick Municipal Court Judge Todd Mayo.

"It's nice to be up here honoring people instead of punishing people," Mayo joked in presenting one of the awards.

Colie Edison, an East Brunswick native who starred on MTV's "The Real World: Denver," hosted the ceremony, as students were called up one by one to receive their plaques from a different local politician, business executive, or school administrator.

The recipients of the 2010 Good Deed Awards for New Jersey Teens are Alana Barouch, Praynka Bhandari, Vincent Chu, Michael Fredericks, Emily Fredericks, Hannah Friedman, Jai Krish Gill, Kirsten Granit, Soumya Kethu, Rachel Linda, Jessica Lovich, Jennifer Lu, Christopher Lynch, Laura Maquire, Stephanie Mui, Marissa Nezarrio, Cristina Raiti, Sirena Wang, Shira Wasserman, Shawn Weeks, Jessica Yang, and Bridget Zhong.

"I chose to volunteer not for the acknowledgment but the joy in helping people," said Rachel Linda, a student at East Brunswick High School who spoke on behalf of the honorees.

Rachel, 16, who hopes to become a special education teacher, completed more than 140 hours of community service this school year, volunteering at Daisy and Adult Life Skill program.

"They're making a difference, going out there and doing their work and if we show them we're behind them and encourage them, they will be more likely to continue and make larger strides in the future," Rabbi Aryeh Goodman of the Chabad of East Brunswick told The Jewish State.

Goodman said that in an economic climate when budget cuts have hit social services across the state, volunteerism has become even more important. For Goodman, the goal of the program is not only to acknowledge and celebrate the awardees for their contributions, but also to motivate others to engage in volunteerism themselves.

"I'd like to see more and more students get involved with community service," he said, adding that he hopes to eventually take the program statewide.

East Brunswick Mayor David Stahl noted that he personally knew many of the honorees for years, which he described as a testament to their consistent and long-term commitment to the community.

"It's always an exciting event when any of our youth in East Brunswick are honored for their work, whether it be academics, or the arts, or sports, or medicine," Stahl told The Jewish State. "It seems that these students awarded today combined all these traits."

The awards ceremony was sponsored by local and national businesses including Costco, CitiBank, Chelsea Assisted Living, Global Furniture USA, Gabowitz Appliances, Upscale Photography, Millwood Builders, Fed Ex Office, Gold Medal Heating and Plumbing, and Open Road Auto Group.