January 2010 - Vol. 5 / Issue 1
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Haiti
With the projected death toll from last Tuesday's Haitian earthquake approaching 200,000, everyone is wondering how to lend a hand. According to CNN, non- profit organizations are requesting monetary donations at this time, not material goods. Agencies have set up phone lines, Web pages and texting for donations that will go toward medical and basic supplies, depending on the agency. Following is a list of highest-rated charities by CharityNavigator.org: American Jewish World Service, American Red Cross, Americares, Care, Catholic Relief Services, Direct Relief International, Habitat for Humanity, International Medical Corps, International Relief Teams, Medical Teams International, Doctors without Borders, Mercy Corps, Operation USA, Save the Children, Salvation Army, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, World Concern, World Food Programme, and Yele Haiti.

You may quickly give $10 to the American Red Cross by texting "Haiti" to the number 90999. You will receive a reply text asking you to confirm your donation. You may complete the transaction by typing "Yes." This streamlined donation process was created the evening of the earthquake by a partnership between Verizon Wireless, MGive Foundation, the U.S. State Department and the American Red Cross. According to Fox News, more than $10 million has been donated through $10 increments.

Photo taken by Shaun Best and courtesy of Reuters and www.alert.org.
Sherwin Williams Paint Plan
Sherwin Williams logo
Good news! The 2009 prices for playground map paint have been extended through 2010! The plan can also be downloaded from the Pioneers website. If by chance a local Sherwin Williams store employee says they can't find the national partnership account, the Pioneer should tell the employee that it is listed under SOURCE National Accounts or to contact Brian Benson, National Account Manager, at 303-794-2472 or brian.benson@sherwin.com.
Food Baskets
Food Basket
The Port Jefferson LiveSource (Directory Assistance) team partnered with the Paumanok Chapter to make the holiday season a little brighter for those less fortunate on Long Island. During the months of November and December, members filled 19 food baskets and donated them to various pantries/shelters in Suffolk County. On December 10, the Pioneers, in partnership with the Wyandanch school district and the local community shelter, donated books collected during the Verizon Foundations annual Seasons Reading campaign and sponsored a holiday party and gifts for the more than 250 children in attendance. In the upcoming year, the Port Jefferson office and the Pioneers plan to continue their good will and run various campaigns to benefit their local community living up to the Pioneer motto of " Answering the Call of Those in Need" both during and after work hours. Many thanks to all who helped bring joy to so many and special thanks to Rosellen Storm, Laura Smith, Sonya Dungee, Dolline Welch, who spearheaded the LiveSource program, Lorraine Gettis from the Great River RSC, and Maryann Weise, project director for the Pioneers.
Give a Day -- Get a Disney Day
Disney logo
Pioneers have partnered with HandsOn Network in the "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." program. The program celebrates and inspires volunteerism and connects volunteers to community need. Disney is thanking those who volunteer by giving them a free ticket good for one day admission to a Walt Disney World® or Disneyland® theme park.

Receive free admission to one of the theme parks of Walt Disney World Resort® or the Disneyland Resort® when you sign up and complete a day of volunteer service with a participating organization. The program is limited to one ticket per person, regardless of the number of times they volunteer. You must be at least 18 years of age to sign up, and you may sign up a maximum of 8 additional members of your same household. Children must be at least 6 years of age to volunteer under this program and receive a theme park ticket. Children ages 6-17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian when volunteering. Your free ticket voucher will be reserved at the time you sign-up for a volunteer opportunity. Disney will track the reserved and distributed vouchers to ensure all qualifying volunteers receive their voucher. Ticket quantities for this program are limited. The program begins January 1, 2010 and continues until all tickets are distributed or December 15, 2010, whichever occurs first.

You MUST sign up for eligible volunteer opportunities through disneyparks.com/ giveaday. Participation in volunteer activities outside of this sign-up process does not qualify for a free ticket. Pioneers are able to volunteer for any project posted on the disneyparks.com/ giveaday site. You do not need to volunteer for a Pioneers project to qualify for a free ticket to Disney. Volunteers cannot sign-up for a volunteer opportunity under the program that is more than 60 days in the future.
Member Benefits
Benefits
Wow! Have you visited the Pioneer Member Benefit Center recently? It's amazing how many discounts and benefits you receive just for being a Pioneer. You can find outstanding deals in the areas of banking and finance, education, health & fitness, insurance, retailers, travel and entertainment, and newsletters. A few of the key benefit partners include Beltone Hearing Aids, Choice Hotels, Dell Computers, Disneyland, Hertz Car Rental, Jenny Craig, Liberty Mutual, Long Term Care Resources, and Scholastic. Please take a few minutes and learn how to take advantage of these tremendous savings.
2010 Chapter Leaders - Many thanks to the 2009 Leaders!
 
Chapter Area Contact Name                     E-mail
AGB -Alexander Graham Bell D.C./ No. Virginia/ suburban MD June Weakley jbweakley@verizon.net 
Empire New York - Downstate Gabe Olah jagapare@frontiernet.net 
    Ron Simpson repsimpson@msn.com 
Excelsior New York - Upstate Dawn Aikman dmaikman@hotmail.com 
    Michele Cavanaugh mickic@frontier.com 
Fort Pitt PA - Pittsburgh area Marilyn J. Stevens Marilyn.Stevens4@comcast.net
Genesee New York -Rochester (Frontier) Wordene Day Wordene.Day@FrontierCorp.com 
    Monique Adams Monique.Adams@frontiercorp.com 
Jasper Keller Maine/ New Hamp/ Vermont Mary McCarthy mary.t2.mccarthy@gmail.com
    Mary Lefebvre marypl@myfairpoint.net
Kinnard PA - Harrisburg, Lancaster Jerry Ross gdnjr@comcast.net 
    Sue Epler eppie221@aol.com 
Liberty Bell PA - Philadelphia / Delaware Maryann Murtha  maryann.murtha@verizon.net 
    Magnolia L. Smith mack7171@verizon.net 
Maryland Maryland Mary Weber marygweber@msn.com 
    Nancy Mazepa Nancy.w.mazepa@verizon.com 
McCully Downstate New Jersey - Downstate Charlene Johnson charlene.johnson20@hotmail.com
    Denise Hodges bdhodges@verizon.net 
McCully Upstate New Jersey - Upstate Thomas Atkinson duallytom@hotmail.com 
    Jeannette Watson  jeannette.x.watson@verizon.com 
Nova 5 New York - NYC Judith Diaz Geminiwomen@msn.com 
    Dalia Santiago dalia.Santiago@Verizon.com 
Old Dominion Virginia Linda Dudley  lwd547@verizon.net 
    Kimberly King hpycmpr@yahoo.com 
Paumanok New York - Long Island Linda Steuerwald KSteuerwal@aol.com 
    Tom Kennedy Thomas.R.Kennedy@verizon.com 
Telcordia New Jersey              (Telcordia area) Teresa Schumacher tschumac@telcordia.com 
    Gregory Hachey  ghachey@telcordia.com 
    Jackie Gunn j.gunn5@verizon.net 
Thomas Sherwin Massachusetts - East Manuel Stewart bigdogwkm@yahoo.com 
    Gail Fleurent catwalkbar@yahoo.com 
VZ West WA, CA, FL,                   TX, PA, NC, IL Mary Wellington maryw1003@aol.com 
    Lacey Sproat Lacey.L.Sproat@idearc.com 
W J Denver Massachusetts - West & Central / Rhode Island Chris Casino christine_casino@msn.com 
    Ann Cove ann.t.cove@verizon.com 
West Virginia West Virginia Frances Nutter frannutter@aol.com 
    Carol Bennington carolwv@aol.com 
       
VFFT GROUP Coordinators Steve Kohn,
Executive Director
StephenKohn@cox.net  
Communicator Gabe Olah jagapare@frontiernet.net 
Dictionary Jim Dowd jim.dowd@verizon.net 
PALS Diane Rodger pioneerladydiane@verizon.net 
Project Connect Phil Hahn philip_hahn@msn.com 
PowerUp to Read Deb Foley d-foley@comcast.net 
To Do List Denise Darden-Woody denise.darden-woody@verizon.com 
Official Photographer Paul Redline  paul.redline@verizon.net 
HQ liaison  Kristine Mazzullo kmazzullo@pioneersvolunteer.org 

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Verizon/Frontier/FairPoint/Telcordia Pioneers
P.O. Box 4406 . Salem, MA 01970

phone: 978.745.9600