Jean Schiro-Zavela - Serve Virginia

Jean Schiro-Zavela

RICKETTSFRAN10131--C-CAP Director Fran Ricketts 10/24/2013 MATT ARMSTRONG PHOTO

Jean Schiro-Zavela

May 3, 2023

Congratulations to Jean Schiro-Zavela – winner of the 2020 Governor’s Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Adult Volunteer! Since 2011, Jean has dedicated 1,700 hours of volunteer time to Britepaths, a financial literacy program in Northern Virginia. Jean volunteers providing administrative support to the organization and is responsible for entering all of the data needed to implement, assess, and report on the program. In the first 11 months of 2019, Jean was instrumental in documenting and tracking the 900 individuals who attended free financial literacy education classes or who met with a financial planner. Additionally, she entered data for and tracked another 663 individuals who attended one-on-one sessions with a financial literacy mentor. Her competence, commitment, and passion has helped hundreds of Virginia families become financially self-sufficient. Read more Volunteer Stories! Submit a Story!

Rachel Haines

Story of Service: Rachel Haines

Olivia Gilbert

Story of Service: Olivia Gilbert

Congratulations to Olivia Gilbert - winner of the 2020 Governor's Volunteerism and Community Service Award for Outstanding Youth Volunteer! You could say Olivia Gilbert has been volunteering all her life. When 13-year-old Olivia was just four years old she began sending care packages to her cousin, Drew's, unit in Afghanistan. After Drew returned to the U.S. she began collecting food at her birthday parties for the Prince George Food Bank. In 2014, she began collecting food from her school and later expanded to collecting donations from her after school care organization and dance classmates. Today she receives donations from family,...

McKesson Medical-Surgical

Story of Service: McKesson Medical-Surgical

A committed volunteer with Feed More's Meals on Wheels program in Richmond over the past two decades, McKesson Medical-Surgical is an invaluable corporate partner in the effort to collect, prepare, and distribute food to neighbors in need across Central Virginia. As a medical distributor, McKesson believes that being a global healthcare leader offers an opportunity to become a responsible corporate citizenship by committing to bringing about positive change in their local community. Since 2004, their employees have volunteered nearly 10,000 hours of time with Feed More, mobilizing hundreds of their employees to get involved and give back. "The impact of...

Frank Lott

Story of Service: Frank Lott

AmeriCorps member Frank Lott has not allowed the current COVID-19 pandemic to stop him from serving his community. As an AmeriCorps member at CARITAS AmeriCorps, Frank provides essential community services as well as support for clients in their recovery and assistance with developing workforce readiness. Frank started his training to become a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist in January as a part of his service. When COVID hit, Frank dove into alternate service activities by training with and taking calls for 2-1-1 VIRGINIA. Volunteers have been very successful in providing information and resources to thousands of individuals in need. Because...

William Giswold

Story of Service: William Giswold

AmeriCorps VISTA Member of the Year William Griswold, Community Services Block Grant - CAPUP, Richmond In just a short time serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with CAPUP, Will has shown a strong talent for developing community relationships. As a long-overdue needs assessment was just kicking off, Will worked to develop critical relationships with local educational institutions by recruiting students to assist with the process. He was involved in all aspects of the effort – managing and motivating volunteers and reaching out to key players in the community. Will’s successes were pivotal to the effectiveness of the needs assessment, which will ultimately...

SALEM HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM - SAEM PACKING SESSION

Salem Area Ecumenical Ministries

Story of Service: Salem Area Ecumenical Ministries

The Salem Area Ecumenical Ministries (SAEM) is a gathering of lay and pastoral representatives from Salem, Virginia, and western Roanoke County churches and local service agencies, working to strengthen community resilience by encouraging collaboration in the areas of food, clothing, and educational resources. With the support of more than 300 volunteers, SAEM offers elementary and middle school meal programs and school gardens as well as Mrs. Dorsey's Clothes Closet. SAEM actively engages members of diverse faith congregations and encourages previous recipients of their ministries to assist with programs. SAEM is recognized as the lead ministry partner in providing food, clothes,...

What’s Your Volunteer Personality?

Pair your passion with purpose. Take our Volunteer Personality Quiz and find out which volunteer direction is best for you.