Met Council, New York City

As a top anti-poverty agency in NYC, helping 100,000 New Yorkers fight poverty each year with critical services, Met Council benefits from the generosity of hundreds of volunteers each year as they complete numerous, varied projects. Volunteers often help provide services and company for seniors living in Met Council’s housing sites, distribute food at shelters, and help in various projects for the aging, ailing and poor. Here are four examples of our recent, successful volunteer events.

On July 9th, volunteers from American Express gathered at Met Council’s East 23rd Street housing site to clean the building’s communal garden. The volunteers spent several hours removing debris and adding fresh soil to the flower beds. Residents came out to express their gratitude, and one lent her gloves and gardening shears to the effort!

On June 14th, 15 volunteers joined us at Met Council’s East 61st Street housing site to cook a gourmet meal (chicken salad, pasta salad, fruit salad and brownies) for the senior residents. The 20 residents who attended remarked on how delicious the food was and how grateful they were for the company. The volunteers included five newcomers and ten old-timers, all of whom are excited for future events!

One Friday in May, four teams of volunteers from Deloitte, an international financial services firm, completed four amazing projects to help empower our clients to fight poverty and live healthier, happier lives. One team ran a financial management course to teach low-income clients about debt management and credit scores. (“It was a great success because the clients were engaged and willing to share their experiences,” said a volunteer.) Another team braved the rain to plant flowers and bushes in front of one of our homeless shelters. ("I actually think the rain made it easier to dig the soil!”) Ten volunteers served brunch and played bingo with seniors in our Bronx residence, and a final group renovated our career training room by painting the walls and building two shelving units.

On May 3rd, Met Council provided a unique shopping experience to celebrating families in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. During a “Family Day” celebration, organized by the St. Mark Roman Catholic Church and Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz to bring the neighborhood together, hundreds of low-income families gathered to play games, enjoy local food, and get new clothing thanks to Met Council’s Project Machson, which provides new and gently used furniture as well as good quality clothing. Volunteers and staff from Project Machson set up clothing racks of shirts, pants, skirts, dresses and coats, as well as shoes and bags for the families to “shop” with dignity.

Geron Holmes – Sunshine Prevention Center for Youth and Families, Brookhaven, NY

I would like to share a story of one of our volunteers at Sunshine Prevention Center for Youth & Families. His name is Geron Holmes. Geron has been involved at Sunshine Prevention Center for many years. He first came as a participant in the summer program as a young child. As he grew into his adolescent years, Geron faced many challenges in school and his community. He was required to perform community service hours as a consequence for negative behaviors and he was accepted to do the hours at Sunshine Center. He was responsible and respectful to all the Sunshine staff. At that time we began to see the needs for additional services for suspended youth. Geron was the inspiration behind the implementation of our new Prevention Not Suspension program (An Alternative Program for High Risk Youth).

Geron became more and more committed to the programs at Sunshine and began to make positive changes in his life. He volunteered in the summer as an assistant in our Morning Glories Summer Prevention Program for ages 4 - 11 and he also continued to attend our Teen Leadership Council/Program as a weekly as a participant. He has truly a positive role model in all programs and has really connected especially with the more challenging children. He had patience for them and a deeper understanding as to why they behaved the way they did.

Geron volunteered his time to go to Albany to speak with the local legislators to advocate for more funding for our youth agencies. As a result of his participation, Sunshine Prevention Center was awarded $30,000 from Senator John Flanagan to purchase a new 15-passenger van.

Geron's involvement in the Teen Leadership Program allowed him to be one of the chosen attendees for the annual Peer Leadership Weekend through the Town of Brookhaven. Geron also assists weekly in our children and teen anger management and shares with the new participants how he uses the skills he learned at Sunshine to keep making the positive changes in his life.

Geron has been hired as a Sunshine staff and worked long hours after his school hours. He greets new participants, answers phones, keeps the center clean, and assists in the programs. From his participation and involvement at Sunshine, Geron has chosen to pursue his college education in the field of psychology. He has been accepted to Suffolk Community College where he plans to first attend.

From his hard work and determination, Geron graduatedhigh school in June 2009. He also was chosen as Volunteer of the Year through the Brookhaven Youth Bureau and also has been chosen as a winner of the local Kohl's Kids Who Care Scholarships. He is a real inspiration to others. Thank you for allowing us to share our story with you.

iMatter Surf Camp for Children with Autism

It is with great enthusiasm that I share with you the success of a program that hundreds of New Yorkers volunteer with every single year.

It is the iMatter Surf Camp for Children with Autism. The iMatter Surf Camp takes place every year at Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton, NY. The iMatter Surf Camp is sponsored by Community Options, Inc. which is a national nonprofit organization that develops community-based homes and entrepreneurial business opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.

Started in 2007 by Jessica Guberman, Ph.D. Executive Director of Community Options, Jessica saw a need for a therapeutic aquatic experience for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and having grown up on Long Island and surfing on it's beaches, she thought of no better way to serve her community.

The iMatter Surf Camp serves over 100 children with Autism from New York in addition to their siblings and families. Including volunteers, we have 400 people attend this event every year and it is magical. I will share with you a quote from one of the families who attended the camp for the first time last year.

"As a parent you look forward to the day that it's your kid who scores the winning goal, makes the basket at the last second or strikes out the best hitter. As a parent of a child with special needs I didn't think I'd ever experience that feeling. Truthfully, I don't want my daughter to stand out - I want her to mix in. Looking out into the water yesterday, Anna looked like a typical eight year old. That, to me, was as good as any basket she could have scored."

The volunteers of the iMatter Surf Camp are the lifeline to the success of the program. Volunteers are assigned to one child the entire day and surf tandem with that child teaching them everything from how to wax a surfboard to style techniques, etc. Honestly, the kids breeze through that to get in the water. Most of the children spend the entire day in the water.

Community Options, Inc. a 20 year old nonprofit organization with operations in New York City, Brookyln, Binghamton and Syracuse is proud to support children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families on this most special day every year. The 2009 camp will be held on Saturday, August 15, 2009 at 10am at Cupsogue Beach in Westhampton, NY. Lunch is provided and the camp is free of charge.

I have attached some pictures of the camp for your utilization. Previous releases have been obtained. In addition, please click on the link below to see the video from last year's camp and turn the volume up!

James Shevlin, American Red Cross

James Shevlin was as anxious as any parent for his son’s safety when his son went to serve in Iraq as a US Marine in 2003. As he related, “It’s scary when your child goes away and may possibly die. And the prospect of my son going missing was horrible.” A colleague at work had told him how the Red Cross had helped a family locate a missing soldier in Iraq. Shevlin was comforted to know that part of the mission of the Red Cross is to facilitate emergency communications between military personnel and their families through its Service to Armed Forces (SAF) program. And it inspired him to volunteer.

A professionally-trained speaker, Shevlin was soon representing ARC/GNY at US Armed Forces deployment-briefing programs in the Greater New York City area. At these briefings he describes the SAF program, explaining how families of deployed soldiers can send emergency messages—a birth, serious illness or the death of a loved one—to a child or spouse serving in the Armed Forces anywhere in the world.

Six years later, Shevlin, whose son returned safely from Iraq, continues to give these presentations and has trained several other volunteers to represent the Red Cross at the deployment briefings. Shevlin’s volunteer participation in ARC/GNY activities has expanded to include delivering explanations about other types of client services, Reserve Institute trainings and customized presentations for corporations and educational institutions.

In 2005 Shevlin was honored with a President’s Volunteer Service Award by George W. Bush for his Red Cross volunteer activities surrounding the Hurricane Katrina response. While Shevlin is proud of his award, he derives his greatest satisfaction from being able to give back to those serving overseas and from being part of an organization with such strong and true principles. He asked, “What type of world would it be if we all lived these Red Cross principles or at least tried?”