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2010 Young Philanthropist Award

Natick's Max Wallack, 14, receives the 2010 Young Philanthropist Award and Andover's Jenn Konjoian, 16, receives the 2010 Young Volunteer Award

Fourteen-year old Max Wallack of Natick and 16-year-old Jenn Konjoian of Andover were honored for their commitment to philanthropy and volunteerism by Women in Development of Greater Boston (WID) at its May 19th Young Philanthropist Award Luncheon and annual meeting at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston. 

Wallack, founder of Puzzles to Remember, which donates puzzles to facilities that treat individuals with Alzheimer's, received the Young Philanthropist Award. Kongoian, a Families for Depression Awareness teen speaker, received the Young Volunteer Award.

Unique in the Boston area, WID's awards celebrate outstanding young leaders who make vital contributions to local nonprofit organizations, whose work inspires their peers and adults alike, and who have developed a model of philanthropic practice for future generations.

Wallack, who helped care for his great grandmother who suffered from Alzheimer's, launched Puzzles to Remember in 2008 in her memory. He observed that puzzles had a calming effect on individuals with the disease, so he founded an organization with a mission to collect and donate puzzles to health care providers. Starting initially with donations to Massachusetts facilities, Puzzles to Remember now garners support from volunteers and corporations nationally. To date, it has distributed more than 3,800 puzzles to all 50 states. In addition, Max has become an advocate for research for Alzheimer's disease and has written a blog for the Alzheimer's Reading Room. He has expressed an interest in becoming a geriatric psychiatrist and will be working in the Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center this summer.

For more than two years, Jenn Konjoian has volunteered to share her personal experiences with depression in the Families for Depression Awareness' Teen Speaking Program. Kongoian's candor and tremendous spirit, and commitment to serving others, have helped make the organization's Teen Speaking Program a sought-after resource for training and education about depression.

"I want to let other teens know about the depth of my struggle by being transparent about my experiences, to gain positive coping skills by listening to some of mine, and to ultimately gain the confidence to talk to their peers and the adults in their lives about this topic," Konjoian says. "This is how I can make a life-saving difference in the lives of others like me."

Past Recipients of the Young Philanthropist Award