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“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #8

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:27:06 +0000

Sophie Tworkowski, Greg Seaman, and Lois Smith are the leaders of a group of volunteers from the Unitarian Universalist Society in Hamden who have been helping to re-settle a refugee family from Iraq in a co-sponsorship arrangement with Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS). Sophie and her group provided the Iraqi family with a temporary home when they first arrived, found and renovated an apartment, and continue to provide on-going support by providing ESL lessons, childcare, shopping trips, doctor visits, as well as help locating educational and employment opportunities. Sophie states, “This refugee family is no longer a church project, they are truly a family to us now.”

“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #7

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 16:36:22 +0000

Jeff Rich is a 16 year-old sophomore at Stamford High School. While a seemingly typical teenage boy, one year ago he began a teen volunteer program at the Richard L. Rosenthal Hospice Residence (run by Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care of Southwestern CT, Inc.). Jeff’s grandmother had been a resident there when he was 8 years old and the experience of visiting her there had a big impact. For Jeff, the hospice isn’t a place for people to go to die, but for people to live out their final days in dignity. Jeff volunteers there every Sunday and has organized a team of ten other teen volunteers, who undergo training and commit to four hours of service a month. Jeff also volunteers as a weekly playmate for a teen-age autistic boy. Jeff Rich was recently named a 2009 Hero by the American Red Cross of Lower Fairfield County.

“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #6

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 03:19:11 +0000

Brooks Sumberg is a 59 year-old retired businessman from Westport who nine months ago voluntarily created The Connecticut Bike Project. Taking over various church parking lots on weekends in Fairfield County, he single-handedly runs “bike donation drives”, collecting scores of used bicycles, which he trucks to the St. Charles Urban Center run by Catholic Charities in Bridgeport.

There Roberto Sanchez, Director of the Food Pantry, and his two sons, fix and clean up the bikes, pump up the tires, and distribute them for free to men in the predominantly Latino immigrant community, who are in need of transportation to get to work and to find jobs, and to neighborhood children

Brooks experience digging water wells in rural Tunisia as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1972/1973 cemented his commitment to community service. “It’s important to do something that’s bigger than your self,” says Brook, who hopes to expand the bike project to other counties in Connecticut in the coming year.

“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #5

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:24:03 +0000

Dwayne Bethea is a 46 year-old African American business analyst, who volunteers two evenings a week tutoring a group of children at St. Luke’s LifeWorks, a homeless shelter in Stamford. He also volunteers once a week reading to a blind woman in a nursing home through the auspices of Volunteer Services for the Blind. Mr. Bethea grew up in a poor, broken family in the Bronx, New York. He decided that having achieved educational and financial success for him self and his family was not enough and has been involved in numerous volunteer activities for years. Through volunteering, he has “re-defined” who he is as an individual and it has provided him with a “new value system.” This was reinforced when he was laid off for 11 months last year and came to realize that his identity and self-worth are not based on work or social status, but through community service.

“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #4

admin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:55:16 +0000

Beth Barrett is a former trial attorney from Southbury who has been a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters for over 18 years. Beth is disabled and must use a crutches and a scooter due to a degenerative nerve disease in her legs. Beth is currently a Big Sister to her third Little Sister, eleven year-old Betsy, who is from a low-income Puerto Rican family. Beth spends 4-5 hours every Monday with Betsy, taking her to the library to read and do home work, and to her house for dinner, games and art projects. Once a month, Beth takes Betsy on a weekend outing to a museum, park, or show. Beth’s first Little Sister, also disabled, is now 26 and about to be married. Beth co-authored the book Little Moments, Big Magic about Big Brothers Big Sisters, has sat on the board of Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, and was named 2003’s Connecticut’s Big Sister of the Year.

“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #3

admin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:59:05 +0000

Dr. Joseph Belsky is a vigorous 82 year-old working endocrinologist, who volunteers once a month at the AmeriCares Clinic in Danbury, seeing patients, who are predominantly low-income immigrants. Dr. Belsky has volunteered his expertise all of his professional life, a practice that was modeled for him by his teachers and mentors when he was a young doctor in training. It is important, he believes, to carry on and model this tradition, which appears to be waning in younger generations of health care professionals. Dr. Belsky demonstrates unusual warmth and caring for his patients, whom he regards as family. He believes that volunteering his services is more than just treating illnesses, “At its heart, healing is about truly listening to what patients have to say.”

“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #2

admin — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 01:38:40 +0000

Amber Dubé is a 39 year-old woman who volunteers once a week with her teen-age children and husband providing childcare and serving as companions to children at My Sister’s Place, a women’s shelter in Hartford. Amber was born in South Korea, the daughter of a Korean woman and an African American GI stationed there. Abandoned by her father at an early age, Amber lived a life of extreme poverty before being adopted by an American family. She now has a successful career in sales with Addidas and is passionate about volunteering for those who need help turning their lives around. “I don’t believe in being a victim,” she emphatically states, but states that those in need “deserve unconditional support to get their lives back on track.”

“The Power of Giving: Stories of Volunteerism” – Story #1

admin — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:56:06 +0000

Jim Goldman is a 45 year-old financial advisor, who volunteers one whole day a week at Jewish Family Services in Hartford as a “money coach.” Jim provides financial counseling to individuals and families who are having trouble with budgeting, debt, credit, and other financial issues. The need for his services is growing during the current economic crisis. In his thirties, Jim set a goal of scaling back his work and adding a day of volunteer service every five years beginning at age 45. While he is an avid sailor, he quickly learned that “the reward from volunteering is better than the best day on the water.”