Russ Berrie Making a Difference Awards

This special retrospective looks back on three decades of inspiring stories and the enduring impact of the Russell Berrie Making a Difference Award. 

 

After thirty years, the foundation has sunset one of our signature initiatives, the Russ Berrie Making a Difference Award. The award recognized New Jersey’s most exceptional unsung heroes each year for remarkable work transforming their communities. Along with a monetary prize — $50,000 for the top winner, $25,000 for the second and third-place winners and $7,500 for runners-up — the awards, which were announced in a ceremony at Ramapo College, provided a rare moment of public recognition for recipients’ tireless efforts to help others. Russ Berrie created the Making a Difference Awards three decades ago, explaining to The New York Times, “It’s another way of looking at philanthropy — inspiring people to look at themselves and what they can do for the community.” Over thirty years the Making a Difference Award honored 485 changemakers with more than $4.7 million.

Recent Top Award Winners

2026 — Gen Z Making a Difference Award Winners for their leadership in addressing needs in communities across New Jersey.  

Kavin Arora connects students with volunteer opportunities; Aidan Barth and Abigail Franco address inequities in access to resources through LINC; Sylvia Brown created community food pantries; and Spencer Chaisanguanthum expands access to debate and public speaking. Ava Costa brings music to chemotherapy patients; Guilianna Demma creates customized pediatric hospital gowns; Ezra Fineman raises awareness of rare immune disorders and donor registration; and Landon Hoberman mobilizes students around environmental action. Rashanna James-Frison empowers girls through literacy and leadership; Aliza Lopez expands youth health education; Lakita Lloyd mentors young women; and Alias Ragsdale advances youth leadership and civic engagement. Eddi Raymond advocates for and mentors LGBTQ+ youth, while Sri Nihal Tammana leads a national effort to promote safe battery recycling. Together, the honorees represent a new generation of New Jersey leaders making meaningful change.  

2025 — Sr. Patricia Prendergast for her more than two decades of work providing a safe and supportive place for women experiencing homelessness and other crises in Atlantic City. After years of working with people experiencing homelessness, Prendergast recognized that women in the city often had nowhere safe to go during the day and opened Adelaide’s Place in the basement of St. Monica’s in 2002. The organization has since grown into a daytime respite center where women can access food, health information, life-skills and arts programming, social services, and assistance finding housing and healthcare. A certified social worker and disaster response crisis counselor, Prendergast has led Adelaide’s Place since its founding, helping women find safety, dignity and practical support during times of crisis. 

2023 — Tia Ryans for her leadership in founding F.O.R.T.E. House NJ (Forcing Out Recidivism Through Education). Tia was incarcerated for a decade following a traumatic childhood. Determined to change her life, she began taking classes and enrolled at Rutgers following release, graduating in 2019. While at Rutgers, she recognized a need for tools and support for justice-impacted students transitioning through postsecondary education and founded F.O.R.T.E. House in Newark. Tia has become a leading advocate for criminal reform and restorative justice in New Jersey. In 2022, she was appointed by Gov. Phil Murphy as a Trustee of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, the first formerly incarcerated person in that position. 

2022 — Diana Mejia for her vision in founding Wind of the Spirit more than 20 years ago to provide support and legal services to immigrants and the undocumented in various New Jersey communities. As a committed immigration advocate, she has pushed for humane and just policies that allow immigrants to live with dignity and contribute fully to their communities. Wind of the Spirit supports a broad spectrum of immigration-related issues at the local, state, and federal levels and works with immigrant communities to ensure access to information that will strengthen their leadership and enable them to realize their power as social and political actors. 

2021 — Dionisio Cucuta, Jr., aka “Chef Dion,” a military veteran from Teaneck, is described as an irreplaceable asset to his community. Recognizing that the COVID 19 pandemic created devastating food insecurity for many vulnerable residents in Bergen County, Chef Dion jumped into action. Drawing on his culinary background, he created Hot Wheels, hot dinners prepared from scratch and provided to families at Bergen Family Center. He has since created Table to Table Tuesday, a raw food distribution program donated by the Table to Table food rescue organization. Chef Dion has also been a long-time mentor to young people through the Disabled Combat Veterans Youth Program and Englewood’s Culinary Cadets program. 

For a complete list of past winners, please click here.