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By: Nancy Mazepa
On Sunday, July 13, the Maryland Chapter and the American Legion Auxiliary, Reisterstown, Unit #116, co-hosted a picnic for more than 100 troops and their families from Camp Fretterd. The picnic was held at the Reisterstown American Legion Post. The troops arrived at 2 p.m., and the Pioneers, Auxiliary and the Blue Star Mothers greeted them at the door with thanks and gave each one a patriotic drink huggie. They were treated to a buffet lunch of pit beef, ham, hot dogs, hamburgers, taco dip, salads, watermelon, cookies, beer, soda and water. The Chapter also rented a snowball machine and made snowballs for the troops and their families. During lunch, Barbara Takesian, president-Central Region Pioneers; Faith Insley, president-Reisterstown Auxiliary; and Marianne Bytella, president-Blue Star Mothers, encouraged the troops with tears in their eyes and thanked them for serving and protecting our country. After lunch, the troops took in some R&R and played horseshoes, volleyball and croquet. Chapter members also had games for the children, and Bringles Jingles played music to make the atmosphere very jovial. It was a wonderful day and it made your heart feel good, that you could give back to the people who give it up for us everyday. |
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Wouldn't it be convenient to shop at your local Pioneer Store
and use your credit card? Now you can! Simply visit your Pioneer
store and select the items you wish to purchase. The store
manager will tally up your purchases and hand you instructions
for accessing the Pioneer Store credit card processing web page.
The next time you access your computer, you can easily charge
your Pioneer Store purchases online. It's so easy; it only takes
a couple of minutes! So, next time you visit your Pioneer Store,
ask your store manager to use this simple purchase option.
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Domestic abuse has been a major part of Liberty Bell's Northeast
Council's program of reaching out to those in need. Laurel
House, a short distance out of Philadelphia, was selected in
2007 by former Council President Maryann Murtha. The 2008
president, Bernie Allen, has continued this commitment to Laurel
House. With the full support of the council, several donations
of food, household items, and cash have been made to this
deserving organization.
When the Northeast Council received the Verizon Foundation's $5000 grant, members asked Melissa Firman, Laurel House Director of Development and Public Relations, where their needs were most desperate. She replied that the skyrocketing cost of food was particularly challenging, creating a significant shortfall in their food budget. The Council designated the grant to be applied to provide three meals a day to the residents, which would cover their food bills for twelve weeks. The check was presented on June 19. Laurel House can accommodate up to 27 people at a given time, and families can live at the shelter for up to 30 days. Aside from housing and providing meals for the residents, counseling is provided on many subjects. Play areas are provided for children, and each evening residents participate in a group meeting where skills for seeking housing, budgeting, employment, and education are discussed. Photo (l-r): - Caitlin Friel, (niece of Maryann Murtha) , Maryann Murtha, Helen Joyce, Melissa Firman, Cass Collins, Bernie Allen, Floss Dudley, Elaine McLaughlin, and Gene McLaughlin. |
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Our Life Member Spotlight is on
Lee Napolillo of the Maryland Chapter She's known to the children of Baltimore County as "Miss Lee." To so many other groups, she is known as "volunteer-extraordinaire." To her four children and seven grandchildren, she is known as mom and grandmom. Everyone is so proud of her many volunteer accomplishments and her non-stop energy. Lee Napolillo has been an active Pioneer for 20 years. Before she retired at the age of 69 in 1999, she started working as a Book'em volunteer packing books after work. She loved looking at the quality children's books that were being shipped out to the Book'em readers. After she retired from Verizon with 33 years service, she launched her second career as "Verizon Pioneer School Volunteer." She knew exactly what she was going to do with all her spare time. She would be a Book'em Reader in addition to her continuing as a Book'em volunteer book packer. Lee has read in eight schools located in Baltimore County for nine years, covering every class in those schools over the school year. Over her Book'em volunteer career, she has read to more than 17,700 children and given each a Scholastic Book, thanks to Verizon and the Pioneers. The children just love her and look forward to her school visits. No matter where she goes around her town, children come up to her and want to know when "Miss Lee" is coming back to their classroom. In addition, Lee has distributed dictionaries to five schools to support the Pioneer Dictionary Project. Somehow Lee has time to support several other worthwhile groups. She has volunteered for Long Green Valley Volunteer Fire Company for more than 45 years and has spearheaded their very successful candy fundraiser for well over 30 years. This year she made more than 650 pounds of Easter eggs for their annual fundraiser. She also is a very active volunteer at her church, St. John's in Hydes, and is presently chairing the White Elephant Table and Silent Auction at their Spring Fling. It just proves volunteering gives life meaning and gives back so much happiness. Lee feels that volunteering with the Pioneers has enabled her to touch the lives of so many children and she is most grateful. |
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By: Bekah Wyman, TCP Program Coordinator
Power Up To Read expanded its scope to the far reaches of the globe in May as educators from South Korea, Singapore, Finland, and Nigeria expressed interest in the high-tech educational program. The educators were among the attendees participating in the 53rd Annual International Reading Association (IRA) Convention in Atlanta, GA. TelecomPioneers took the opportunity to showcase Power Up To Read and attracted tremendous interest in the program. Pioneer objectives included promoting Power Up To Read to attendees, creating awareness of the program, and generating excitement for and interest in PUTR. The effort resulted in effectively promoting the benefits of PUTR and gaining recognition as a valuable asset. PUTR was received very well by attendees who were interested in the free, multi-media program to build literacy skills. The program's features and resources for tutors, as well as the Platinum Award from Family Review Center, attracted much attention. Pioneers were able to collect 454 leads on-site; the collected leads from the convention were almost double the original goal! The Pioneers learned how to be able to promote PUTR to educators of all grade levels, and Larry Reese, Georgia Chapter President, said the event rejuvenated the Georgia Pioneers and built enthusiasm to carry the program forward. The leads generated from the IRA convention will be forwarded on to local Pioneer groups for follow-ups. |
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Some members of the W.J. Denver Chapter Tri- County Club in
Northampton, Mass., went to visit Ann Goclowski, a 98-year-old
retiree from the New England Telephone Company, at the Sunbridge
Nursing Home in Hadley. During the visit, members gave Ann and
about 20 other residents in the Activity Center a Hug-A-Bear. In
talking with the Activity Director, members learned of another
group at the home who loved holding or hugging stuffed animals
that were always in short supply. We happily gave the director
another 25 Hug-A-Bears for that group. Members also learned that
the center could use old magazines and greeting cards, which
they committed to provide regularly. Ann and the other residents
seemed very happy with the Pioneer visit.
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A New Way to Find the Perfect Volunteer Project for YOU!
Introducing PALS: the Pioneer Alliance Linkage System. Using PALS, it's easy for you to: · Explore Pioneer volunteer opportunities in your area; · Create and edit your own personal volunteer profile (indicating your interests, skills and availability); · Choose to receive e-mail notices if your profile is a good match for a specific project; · Use PALS e-mail to tell family and friends about your favorite projects and encourage them to volunteer, too; · Report your volunteer hours for any of your projects. To access PALS, simply request a username and password at http://telecompioneers.helpdeskconnect.com. If you already have a Power Up To Read or Project:Connect (administration, not the games) username and password, this login will also work for PALS. |
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Our Estore manager would like to hear your recommendations on new products. Please e-mail bruceyennie@verizon.net with your feedback.
Verizon TelecomPioneers
P.O. Box 4406 . Salem, MA 01970
email:
info@verizonpioneers.org
phone:
978.745.9600
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