Valerie Odele Ward

Valerie Odele Ward takes the idea of community involvement very seriously. Born and raised in Abington Township, she has dedicated her life to community service. Individuals, organizations, and local communities have directly benefited from her obvious passion for community involvement.

Valerie has strong ties with the area. She is a graduate of Abington High School. In fact, her mother, Odele Terry Ward, also lived here and graduated from Abington High School in 1933. Valerie attended West Chester University where she earned a B.S. in elementary education and Arcadia University, where she earned a Master’s degree in 1979. She spent thirty-five years as a teacher with the Central Bucks School District, retiring in 1997. Early in her career she spent eight years as a playground supervisor for Abington Township Parks and Recreation. Growing up locally she held various jobs in the area with such places as Strawbridge and Clothier in Jenkintown and Woolfolk’s Drug Store in Crestmont.

Speaking from experience, Valerie believes the community is made strong because of a great school district, a dedicated and involved police department, outstanding local services, great housing opportunities, an excellent hospital, multiple recreational activities, and of course, shopping opportunities at the mall! She would like to see opportunities for the youth of our community continue and be expanded upon. She believes that by encouraging volunteerism and community service, young people can become more tolerant and more respectful of peers and older adults.

Valerie’s time is spent with many service, civic, and other community organizations, such as: Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Top Ladies of Distinction, Visiting Nurse Association Board of Directors, Abington Memorial Hospital Women’s Board, Willow Grove NAACP, Roslyn Town Watch, Police Athletic League, Youth Aid Panel, Citizen’s Police Academy, Abington High School Alumni Association, African-American Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Briar Bush Nature Center. For many of these organizations, Valerie holds an administrative position, such as vice president, secretary, chairman, coordinator, or director. She is also very involved with her church, New Bethel A.M.E. Church in Crestmont where she is Superintendent of the Church School.

Such involvement deserves recognition. Recently, Valerie received the Service Award Youth Branch from the Willow Grove NAACP, the President’s Volunteer Service Award for 500 hours with the Abington Township Police Department, the Silent Strength Award from the Roslyn Town Watch, the Black Women’s Education Association Honoree Award, and the President’s Award from the Willow Grove NAACP for outstanding community involvement.

Valerie feels that retirement offered the time she needed for more community involvement. With Valerie, sometimes involvement with one organization leads to involvement with other organizations, such as when an appeal made to the NAACP led to involvement with the Police Athletic League. In addition, a friend from one organization asked Valerie to get involved with the Abington Police Department’s Youth Aid Panel. And so it goes. For Valerie, the more she does, the more she can do!

Valerie loves photography, reading, knitting, and listening to music. One would think that Valerie has little time for anything else. However, she has managed to travel extensively. She has been to ten countries in Europe, the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Canada, several countries in South America, and twenty-five states. Despite these travels, Valerie’s heart is with Abington Township, as her community involvement has demonstrated. Valerie’s vision is for Abington “…always to be a great place for all people to live, regardless of race, religious affiliation, or political preference. I have lived here all my life, and there is no place like home.”

Valerie Odele Ward has certainly helped to make home a better place for us all!

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