Teenagers honored for good deeds.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)

On November 5, the Creative Living Counseling Center in Allendale, New Jersey, recognized 16 teenagers from Bergen and Passaic counties for their service to others.

"There are lots of students who are doing great things for others, so we wanted to highlight them," Gretchen Janssen, executive director of the center, told the North Jersey Media Group, publishers of the Record and the Herald News. The teenagers who were honored included:

* Toni Marie Brown, an 11th-grader from New Milford, who volunteered at Bergen Regional Medical Center in Paramus for five years. Toni drove patients, helped to sort and distribute Christmas gifts to patients, organized art projects for residents, and assisted residents with physical exercises.

* Natalia Cruz, a 10th-grader from Fair Lawn, who worked with an environmental group to clean the bank of the Passaic River. Natalia also tutors a special-education classmate in middle school and leads the music class for poor children at her church in Paterson.

* Liz Diemer, a 12th-grader from Ridgewood, who raised money for charities. Liz also organized fundraising events that raised and distributed more than $7,000 to Hurricane Katrina victims in Louisiana and Mississippi. She also organized bake sales for a foundation ...