Kim Custer Named Driscoll Award Winner by Civic Association

Kim Custer, a tireless advocate for open-space preservation, was named the Alfred E. Driscoll Community Service Award winner last week at the Haddonfield Civic Association annual dinner.

Custer was one of the leaders in identifying grants for open-space purchases in the borough, including $4.5 million for the failed $12.5 Bancroft public purchase referendum that voters rejected in January.

The association's highest honor was presented to Custer for "her extraordinary volunteerism and, especially, the unique ways she has helped preserve Haddonfield’s 300 years of history while bringing it forward to the borough’s next generation," the civic association said. "Custer has been an active volunteer archivist at the Historical Society of Haddonfield and has organized events and projects that link Haddonfield’s most famous naturalist, Samuel Nicholson Rhoads, to the borough’s students. She is also the volunteer archivist for the papers of another famous Haddonfield figure, Margaret Bancroft.  She was recognized for her long history of community service as a Brownie leader, Environmental Commission Member, organizer of two successful efforts to pass the Open Space Trust Fund, volunteer grant writer on winning applications to obtain state Green Acres funds and, more recently, her work on the Rhoads project in partnership with the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia and HMHS students."

Custer said she was honored to receive the recognition.

"The projects to preserve open space and introduce Haddonfield students to our natural resources and our rich history have been especially gratifying," she said.  "In my volunteer activities, I have been inspired by so many of the past Driscoll Award recipients. I hope that, in turn, I can help inspire others to engage in community service for the benefit of our town."