Indulge us in a Boomer boast: We’re super givers, and we’re indispensable.
We give our time, money and talent each year to hundreds of organizations. Thousands of volunteer hours, millions of dollars in donations and a mind-blowing array of skills are this region’s heartbeat. We’re leading hikes, reading to kids, mentoring entrepreneurs, walking dogs, caring for the ailing, sorting food, building houses — the list is as varied as the people who volunteer.
We salute a few of Northeast Ohio’s volunteers nominated by the agencies and places they work.
Dave Wickham
Describing theater performances
Dave Wickham is a high-energy volunteer and a champion for Cleveland Sight Center (CSC) whose enthusiasm brings impactful, high quality and joyful experiences to CSC clients and staff.
As a CSC Audio Describer, Wickham provides rich experiences for clients who experience blindness and low vision. He describes the non-verbal aspects of theater performances.
Consistently smiling, friendly and ever enthusiastic, Wickham makes audio description experiences great for individuals who utilize this service, stepping up early, often and even last minute to bring the world of theater to life. During a recent performance, he provided a phenomenal narration of a play and advocated for the client to meet the cast following the show.
Dennis Leiterman
Soothing frightened dogs
There’s a lot to do at an animal shelter, and the Lake Humane Society is no exception. Cleaning cages, washing towels, sweeping floors. But the biggest need often is the one that requires the softest touch: Calming frightened animals that suddenly find themselves in a strange environment.
Dennis Leiterman has volunteered for almost three years at LHS. “Walks are very important for the dogs, and the volunteers are there to do that,” he says. “If there were no volunteers, the dogs would be taken from their cage and put in our friendship room while a staff member cleans their cage. They would not get the human interaction, which is important — not to mention some much needed exercise.”
Volunteers observe the dogs that they walk and notice any issues that need to be reported to the medical staff.
“When a new dog comes to the shelter, many of them are afraid. They were taken from an environment that they called home, even if it wasn’t the best conditions, and put in a strange building with strange people and strange dogs barking,” Leiterman says.
“Many times they cower in the back corner of their cage. This is where volunteers have the luxury of being able to spend extra time with them. We sit in the cage and talk to the dogs. At first they stay in the back so we just sit in the middle and let them know they are in a good place with a soft voice.
“After about three days — this is where it really gets good — they start to come away from the wall and slowly check you out. We just stay in the same place with our hand out, with a cookie of course. and they usually come to take the cookie and you can see them starting to relax,” he says.
“Then in about seven to 10 days, it is like magic. Just about every dog in the seven-to-10 day range will be at the front of the cage, wagging their tails, and you can almost see a light in its eyes where there was none. That feeling when you see that is priceless. Wish I could bottle it because it would sell for a fortune,” he continues.
“When a dog starts coming to the cage and is not afraid of people is when people coming in start to notice it. It is such a great feeling seeing the dog that was scared, shaking in the back of their cage, going to their new home with owners that will give it the love and care that it deserves.”
Garalynn Tomas
Supporting library growth
Garalynn Tomas was instrumental in the passage of the levy in North Ridgeville that allowed for the construction of a new library building in 2003. She has served as a library trustee for over a decade, currently serving as president. As president of Friends of the North Ridgeville Library Branch, Tomas helped grow it into the successful group it is today. She has tirelessly supported the library’s foundation and has met with public officials to campaign for library levies.
Alaka Chandurkar, MD
Managing special needs and cultural differences
Pediatrician Dr. Alaka Chandurkar is an integral part of Connecting for Kids, a nonprofit group that provides free education and support to families with concerns about their children in Cuyahoga and Lorain counties.
Chandurkar is on the board of directors, bringing her experience as a pediatrician to help identify topics that meet the needs of families. Connecting for Kids will be offering more than 150 programs this year. Chandurkar will be co-leading its popular Coffee and Chat support group in the spring to discuss the challenges and opportunities of navigating the special needs world while managing cultural differences. She also is finding new ways to offer programs for lower resource families and has spread the word about Connecting for Kids to her fellow doctors.
Dora Livesay and Dawn Allis
Training Super Power Leaders for Super Girls
Dora Livesay and Dawn Allis lead “What’s Your Super Power?,” an annual adult volunteer development event through the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio that ensures girls have good scout leaders.
Livesay has been on the Adult Learning Experience committee since 1985 and a Girl Scout for 53 years. She’s a camp coach, Outdoor Essentials facilitator, and member of the Green Hat Society and Order of the Silver Trefoil. She enjoys encouraging the up-and-coming generation of Girl Scouts.
Allis has been on the A.L.E. committee since 2012 and a Girl Scout for 35 years, and is a proud recipient of the 1st Class Award (Gold Award). Allis loves Girl Scouts because as a young girl, her family moved many times and Girl Scouts was a welcoming constant, no matter where she went or which troop she joined.
Sonny Williams
Playing Santa for the Winter Solstice
Sonny Williams, a three-year Geauga Park District volunteer, shares his knowledge of the night sky with Observatory Park visitors. He helps at the Great Geauga County Fair, maple sugaring programs, the Nature Arts Festival, Frozen Fest and movie nights. He’s even been spotted dressed like a caveman to promote the annual Caveman Crawl 5K Trail Run.
Eager to do more, Williams also volunteers with the park district’s Nature Scopes program, using binoculars to provide nature education to every Geauga County fifth-grader. With his distinctive white beard, he’s easily recognized by the students. That makes him especially suited to play Santa at the park district’s Winter Solstice event.
Sounds of Hope Project
Jennie Weible, Laura Nary, Mary Lou Lydecker, Susan Grimm, Lauren Hass Amanfoh, Nick Wisloski & Laura Nary
Using music to heal
Sounds of Hope Project is a nonprofit music and community outreach program that brings comfort and support through recorded music to those in need of spiritual and/or physical healing.
Using local, volunteer musicians and technicians, SOHP donates time and talents to bring music to hospitals, hospices, assisted living facilities and other places throughout Northeast Ohio.
Their inspirational songs are available on CDs. Through SOHP’s $10 Donation Program, the donor can give a CD to a person in need and will get a CD as a thank you.
Founder and president Mary Lou Lydecker is a trained musician and started SOHP after being diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease. Forced to leave her music teaching and organist position, she decided to use her musical talents to produce therapeutic CDs. SOHP was born.
Lauren Haas Amanfoh’s vast experience in the music and art world has breathed new life into the marketing and running of SOHP.
Susan Grimm, as the group’s secretary, develops and edits its website, and oversees CD donations and distribution.
Jennie Weible is a tax specialist and the group’s treasurer, sorting through complicated state requirements and handling all banking issues.
Nick Wislocki focuses on SOHP’s computer and technology needs.
Laura Nary is the group’s historian, volunteering since it began in 2004, often doing behind-the-scenes tasks.
Anne Marie Warren and Jake Frego
Finding ways to volunteer through workplace connections
Anne Marie Warren works at Bank of America and helps forge partnerships that provide volunteer opportunities for other employees. She also volunteers with Boy Scouts of Greater Cleveland and is on the Cleveland Playhouse board.
Jake Frego volunteers with Bank of America’s Military Support Advocacy group, participating in several homes, dedications for veterans and their families, placing flags at graves for Memorial Day and operating snack carts at the VA hospital. He also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity in Summit County.
Ray Mayer
Bringing the trades to high schoolers
Ray Mayer volunteers with Manufacturing Works, an organization that strengthens manufacturing trades in Greater Cleveland. The gentle demeanor and easy nature of the retired plumber from Ford Motor Company make him a good fit for working with high school students through the organization’s Technical Corps Program at Max S. Hayes High School.
He’s made plumbing models for classroom lessons, helped students with small engines, welded model planes, assisted with electrical projects, and talked about career choices.
“When I saw that Manufacturing Works was looking for a retired tradesperson to assist high school students with plumbing, I knew I would enjoy it. I felt an instant connection because I attended Max S. Hayes High School during my five-year apprenticeship training. I am able to draw from my experiences with training apprentices and coaching youth sports to teach and work with young people,” he says.
Larry Jemison
Tutoring children, seeing them succeed
“I was a complainer about poor schools. This was my chance to actually do something,” Larry Jemison says. So that’s why he decided to volunteer with Greater Cleveland Volunteers in the AARP Foundation Experience Corps literacy tutoring program.
Jemison began tutoring after he retired from the United States Post Office. He realized if someone could give additional support to the classroom teachers, students could succeed. That was eight years ago, and his enthusiasm has not waned. He is motivated by witnessing the students’ progress during the school year.
Dinah Mouat
Harnessing business skills to provide nutritious meals
Dinah Mouat is a bundle of energy, business acumen and surprises, and turned to Greater Cleveland Volunteers for volunteer opportunities. The Southeast Clergy Meals on Wheels program appealed to her interests.
Offering her business skills, she is the nonprofit agency’s treasurer and administrator. She enjoys the fellowship with other volunteers and hearing the stories they share about the clients’ deep appreciation for the visits. By volunteering, she is making sure homebound citizens receive nutritious meals they otherwise would not.
“From my earliest memories, I can remember volunteering with my family, which taught me the value of giving back,” Mouat says.
Mark Cline
Using EMT training to help others
After a physical setback ended Mark Cline’s career with the fire department and as an emergency medical technician, he looked to the American Red Cross as a home for his skills and his passion for helping others.
After enrolling with Greater Cleveland Volunteers, Cline now serves on several teams offering emergency needs and support. He has accepted the responsibility as a team leader, training and on-call responder.
Michael Smith
Tending greenhouse plants
Michael Smith was an area manager for The Illuminating Company/FirstEnergy for 35 years. Now he helps grow a vision as a volunteer and president of Friends of the Greenhouse at Rockefeller Park.
The Rockefeller Park Greenhouse is unique to the City of Cleveland; it’s the only nonprofit entity created to assist a city department (Parks and Recreation). Greenhouse admission is free. The Friends of the Greenhouse board raises money for the gardens, programs and facilities.
The Greenhouse supplies Cleveland with plants used for its landscaping. It also provides opportunities to educate the public about fostering and supporting gardening, and hosts fundraisers such an annual spring plant and holiday poinsettia sale.
Terri Noll
Sitting vigil with the dying
Terri Noll volunteers with the Visiting Nurse Association’s Eleventh Hour Companionship program, which is rooted in the hospice philosophy that no person should die alone. Companion volunteers are asked to make themselves available on short notice to share in the last hours of a hospice patient’s life, sitting in vigil and providing a loving, compassionate presence.
Since 2009, Noll has completed 51 assignments and only misses for emergencies. She takes her time caring for each patient and makes them know they are special, getting to know each one and reminiscing with them about the past, trading memories.
She understands that the power of touch can go a long way, so she massages patients’ shoulders, feet and arms. Noll trains new VNA hospice volunteers and ensures that they are comfortable being on their own. She also volunteers at two nursing homes.
Margaret Burik
Playing the piano and leading a choir
Margaret Burik saw an ad in a local grocery store in 1997 for the Rocky River Cuyahoga County Adult Activity Center. They needed a pianist to accompany their choir one or two days a week. The center provides activities, training and work for men and women with developmental disabilities.
A graduate of Baldwin-Wallace University, Burik is a private piano teacher by profession, continuing to give lessons out of her home. She’s volunteered her skills and played for her son’s middle school. When her mother was in a nursing home, she discovered that when she played the piano informally there, the residents would perk up. People would say, “Honey, don’t stop.” The nursing home “came alive” when she played.
Burik arrives at the Rocky River Cuyahoga County Adult Activity Center just after 1 p.m., sets up chairs for the choir, and then plays for about 45 minutes. The rehearsals prepare the choir for performances at local nursing homes, Beck Center for the Arts, and other special performances throughout the region.
Laura Champa
Talking to patients, helping nurses
Laura Champa thought she might become too lazy as a semi-retired employee, so she looked for volunteer opportunities. When she heard about the needs at St. Augustine Health Ministries, which serves low-income people, she knew she had found her volunteer home.
Champa has been with St. Augustine for more than two years. Wanting to work one-on-one with residents, she started out filling water pitchers for patients. That evolved into assisting at nurses’ stations by scanning medical records and answering the phones. She often visits with long-term patients, helping transport them to various activities.
“It’s a good feeling knowing that maybe you made a difference in their lives,” she says.
Kevin Hughley
Helping others help others
Kevin Hughley was introduced to the Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities in 2017, and his impact at their Euclid Adult Activities Center has been invaluable. His job is to support a group of 16 to 20 individuals with developmental disabilities from the center who volunteer at the McGregor Home, an independent- and assisted-living facility.
Hughley joins the volunteers in assisting with art and recreational activities. While they play Bingo, the group enjoys small talk with residents. Why is Hughley’s work notable? Though he assists individuals with developmental disabilities, he, too, has a developmental disability. Hughley is described as a “big teddy bear” who is willing to help others in need. He inspires others to advocate for themselves, supports inclusive activities, and has stepped out of his own comfort zone by helping and getting to know new people.
COLLEEN MORAN
Retraining her voice to provide comfort to patients and families
When Colleen Moran’s father died in 1999, she and her mother began volunteering for Hospice of the Western Reserve. After losing her mother, she continued volunteering. While she assists with several projects, her primary role is serving as a “check-in” caller, making weekly calls to patients and families. However, she faced an unusual challenge in that role — one that might cause others to quit. Team members said she was too robotic and might not be able to connect with caregivers or patients.
Eager to give back and make a difference, Moran willingly accepted coaching and looked for ways to develop her skills. She went from sounding like she was reading a script with hesitation and trepidation to becoming a happy presence providing support and creating relationships with hospice patients and their families. This took time, practice, courage and hard work.
Moran remains inspired by the words of the founder of the modern hospice movement: “You matter to the last moment of your life and we will do all that we can to not only let you die peacefully but to live before you die.” She does all she can to encircle patients and their loved ones with all the support possible.
