The award is presented to the township’s behind the scenes employees who Go the Extra Mile in their service to residents.
The residents whom Evesham Township tax assessing clerk Darlene Campbell interacts with on a daily basis get treated like family.
“I was always taught to answer the phone with a smile, and even if you can’t see it, you can hear it,” Campbell said when asked to describe her work for Evesham Township.
Years of practices such as that have now led to Campbell being named the township’s GEM Award winner for August.
Township manager Tom Czerniecki instituted the GEM or “Going the Extra Mile” award program several months ago as a way to spotlight township employees who work behind the scenes but still serve residents in ways that go well beyond their job description.
Members of the public and other members of the township can nominate employees they feel exemplify Evesham’s best, and then a rotating committee of management, staff and labor union representatives recommend a winner each month to the township manager.
Campbell’s nomination stems from a local real estate agent who was recently working with a military family seeking to relocate to Evesham from out of state.
As Campbell would eventually learn, the home the family wanted to purchase had some work completed by its previous owners, but the previous owners had failed to receive the proper permits beforehand.
With the lack of permits remaining as a liability for the new Evesham residents, Campbell once again treated complete strangers as if they were her own family and personally saw to it that their problem was properly resolved.
Although Campbell’s job is normally focused on answering calls, filing documents, processing deeds and answering residents’ questions, Campbell coordinated among multiple township departments without prompting to make fixing the new family’s situation as convenient as possible.
“The transfer button certainly was an easy button to hit and I could have just handed it off to another department and let it go, but I often think that if it were my family, I wouldn’t just want someone to transfer it off — I would want them to get the help that they need,” Campbell said.
According to the township, the real estate agent who nominated Campbell wrote the following about Campbell on the nomination form: “Without Darlene’s quick response on the phone, excellent continued follow-up, honesty and professionalism throughout, this (property closing) wouldn’t have been possible.”
Campbell said she was raised to be respectful, and although it can seem as if respect isn’t spread out across the nation at times, she hopes people can bring that respect back “one little community at a time.”
Campbell, a Gibbsboro resident, is certified by the state as a tax assessor and started her work for Evesham in 2012 after having previously worked as an assistant tax assessor and tax assessor in other municipalities.
She’s also held leadership roles in Boys Scouts and Girl Scouts of America and is an active member of Gibbsboro United Methodist Church.
In addition to her GEM Award, Campbell will be recognized at a future meeting of the Evesham Township Council and she will receive a gift from the Marlton Business Association, a GEM program partner.
To nominate an Evesham employee for the GEM Award program, visit the “How do I…” section of www.evesham-nj.org.
