Volunteer of the Month: Aamir Azam

Aamir teaches science to middle school  students.

With a combination of faith, commitment, and hope, Aamir Azam sets high goals to make his mark in the community. We first met Aamir, a high-school senior, during the judging panels for the 2010 Heart of Marin Awards. As a volunteer judge for the Youth Volunteer of the Year category, Aamir helped pick outstanding youth who, like him, are giving their time to help make a difference in Marin. Holly Bearden, Executive Assistant at CVNL, praised Aamir for his contribution to the judging panel, “Aamir made for a wonderful judge and came to the table with some extremely helpful insights, helping us to choose some very deserving award winners.”

Being a youth judge for the Heart of Marin is merely one way that Aamir volunteers his time. After talking to him for even a few moments, it becomes apparent that he is doing much more to help others, locally and abroad. Aamir's commitment to volunteering stems from his family’s influence and his own beliefs. Aamir has traveled to his family’s hometown in India, where he has served as a Community Youth Leader, English tutor, and a pre-surgical assistant in a hospital. As a Community Youth Leader, Aamir helped fellow peers settle Hindu-Islam disputes, an experience that has influenced his desire to create an opportunity for religious and cultural understanding in Marin. Among other volunteer commitments, Aamir is currently working to build a Mosque in San Rafael, which will serve Muslim families, and also offer programming to all County residents.

As a devoted volunteer, Aamir noticed that a select group of his peers are also donating their time to others, and he hopes that this group continues to grow. He iterates that “as more kids get involved, it will impact adults to do the same”. Aamir will definitely be doing his own part as a young adult to impact others; he is looking to dual-major in Engineering & Religious studies in college, and hopes to one day use this knowledge build Mosques and achieve increased bonding among religions.

Aamir has already made his mark here at CVNL and in Marin, and we can only imagine that he will continue to make a difference for many years to come.