Do Gooder
noun/adjective
- An exceptional, unpaid volunteer serving in Brooklyn.
- A volunteer who deserves recognition for the work they do right here.
Do you know a Do Gooder? Take a look in the mirror. Put a face to the organizations you love by sharing your volunteer story. Brooklyn Community Foundation wants to know who you are and why you serve Brooklyn. Inspire service in your community and tell us your story today by filling out a Do Gooder Application.
Tonya Channell (VP, Citigroup), is a volunteer with PENCIL, Inc. and has been working with PS 13 in East New York since September 2011. She partners with Principal Sabrina Fleming to teach personal finance to 5th graders. She leads classes every other week to help increase students’ financial literacy and math skills, focusing on topics such as budgeting, financial goal setting, and credit and debt.
Eve Bucca and Michele DiBartomelo are both long-time volunteers with Friends with Firefighters. After Hurricane Sandy hit they took up the responsibility of running Friends of Firefighter’s distribution center to help families affected by the storm. Four days a week, Eva and Michele run the center assisting families and making it a welcoming place. They set up a “breathing station” for families to take a break from the stress the stome caused, and always have tea, coffee, and a smile waiting.
Hannah Edmund volunteers with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy
Omar Clarke volunteers with the Gowanus Canal Conservancy
As a member of the Forefront Christian Church community that is starting a location in Brooklyn this September, I became involved in finding ways for us to serve in our neighborhoods. Partnering with a nonprofit like Brooklyn Community Services, who has been in existence nearly 150 years, made sense because of the meaningful ways they're serving BK.
Hello my name is Melissa Razick. I’m 27 years old and I live in Brooklyn with my mom. All my life, since I was 7 years old, I wanted to become a preschool teacher. I LOVE working with kids. They’re FUNNY! You can help them learn how to read and write, or put them down for naps. I have been looking after my niece Jaylene since she was born. She’s 3 years old and getting SO BIG! By taking care of Jaylene, I learned what children need the most is LOVE. I believe that I’m very good at giving this love, and THAT is what makes me want to be a preschool teacher.
I started at BCS Duffield Children’s Center two years ago as a receptionist, where I also took on security and secretarial work for the Program Director, Betty Stromberg. Now I work as a Volunteer Librarian. We started with a room full of thousands of books just thrown in the middle. We had to sort them out by category, create shelves, and inventory everything. We have geography, children’s, and black history books – you name it! I labeled all of them, sub-divided them yet again, and created a reference section. The books are really very educational.
I showed up to the Coney Island Workshop for Teens ready to lead writing workshops, but instead the program’s courageous and talented teens ended up inspiring me with their leadership. I had wished to be assigned to rehab patients, prisoners, hard-skinned warriors with axes to grind. Instead I got Coney. I wasn’t disappointed, just confused. TEENS? I wanted people who had stories beyond my wildest fantasies. Crazy tales of longing and violence, destruction and regret. Apparently, I forgot what being a teen is all about.
Every weekend for the past five years, I've met with an at-risk teen at a local coffee shop to talk about life, exchange stories, and write essays for college and competitions. Being a mentor has taught me to listen, be in the present moment, and to not judge. The most rewarding aspect is the bond and friendship that continues beyond the last drop of coffee.
With the support of BCS, I have started the "Speakers' Bureau" at the Brooklyn High School for Leadership and Community Service, a "transfer" high school in Clinton Hill that serves under-credited, over-aged students who have struggled or failed in traditional academic settings. The kids at the school mostly come from very disadvantaged backgrounds, face big hurdles in life, and lack positive role models.
Tonya Channell (VP, Citigroup), is a volunteer with PENCIL, Inc. and has been working with PS 13 in East New York since September 2011. She partners with Principal Sabrina Fleming to teach personal finance to 5th graders. She leads classes every... More