In honor of Older Americans Month, 22 Lehigh County residents and one group of about 70 people were honored as part of the Lehigh County Aging and Adult Service’s 21st annual tribute to Unsung Heroes.

Two of those honored were the Allentown Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps and Lehigh County Community Emergency Response Team, of Lehigh County.

This tribute honors older adults in the Lehigh Valley who have displayed exceptional generosity with their time and talents to enrich the lives of others in the community.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 celebration looked a little different.

Instead of the annual recognition ceremony, honorees received certificates of recognition, flowers, a pin and yard sign delivered to their homes.

According to their tribute:

“Emergencies and disasters may occur with little or no warning, and public health emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic may require a prolonged response.

“Allentown Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps and Lehigh County Community Emergency Response Team volunteers are prepared and ready to respond to the needs of our community and have been called into action with the Allentown Health Bureau’s COVID-19 vaccination clinics.

“AHB’s vaccine clinics were held at East Side Youth Center before moving to Agri-Plex at the Allentown Fairgrounds on Jan. 25.

“When people enter the AHB’s vaccination clinic to get their COVID-19 vaccine, they see individuals from multiple groups, agencies and volunteers who are all working together to serve our community including members of AVMRC and CERT.

“AVMRC volunteers have been assisting at the clinics since Jan. 6 and were joined by the CERT volunteers on Jan. 25.

“Since the beginning, these volunteers have assisted in multiple shifts and have given of their time to ensure others in our community are able to receive their vaccine at a smoothly run clinic.

“The volunteers work anywhere from four to 20-plus hours a week on a weekly basis.

“The AVMRC and CERT members are assisting with roles at the clinic such as greeters, traffic flow, paperwork, observation and vaccinators.

“All the roles at the COVID-19 vaccination clinics are important to the overall flow and equal a smooth vaccination clinic operation.

“This is just a small portion of what the AVMRC and CERT groups are trained to do.

“Many of the AVMRC and CERT members have completed trainings including disaster psychology to help people deal with the aftermath of an emergency.

“Recognizing that COVID-19 has impacted many aspects of the lives of our community members, including increased levels of stress, the AVMRC and CERT members have put their training and skills to use at the COVID vaccine clinics to help put community members at ease and guide them through the clinic in an efficient, orderly manner.

“The Lehigh County Emergency Management Agency has been actively working and partnering with the Allentown Health Bureau for 10-plus years to offer training opportunities to both the Lehigh County CERT and Allentown Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps.

“These volunteers have trained and worked together during other events such as: H1N1 Vaccination clinics, shelter operations (Hurricane Irene, Tropical Storm Lee), winter storms, utility outages, warming centers and evacuation centers.

“These groups of volunteers are truly inspirational and always willing to go above and beyond for those living in our community.

“Our community is very fortunate to have such committed AVMRC and CERT volunteers.”