Volunteer, It's What They Do & They Want You To Volunteer, Too

BRANFORD, CT — “Cadillac” John Saville, Judy Barron, and Ken Engelman, all Beacon Award recipients, started a campaign called "Volunteer #itswhatwedo.”

During the first week, they raised half the money it cost for an elderly volunteer in town whose car died and needed a replacement, so she could continue to volunteer. In the second week a friend and Ken arranged a motorcycle sidecar for U.S. Marine to have his Heroes Last Ride, led by the Connecticut Patriot Guard and 50 riders.

The initiative is about volunteers inspiring others to volunteer. And helping people directly.

Like Carol, a volunteer at the Community Dining Room in Branford. She needed a car and didn't have the money but could not afford one. So, the group “helped her buy a used vehicle to continue her volunteer work preparing meals for food insecure community neighbors.”

And “Sgt. Jack,” a Marine, who is suffering from inoperable brain cancer. He had a last wish to ride in a motorcycle sidecar. Ken said he had been an avid motorcycle rider. So with the help of Hero’s Last Ride and Andy Sollecito of Norwich, who owns a vintage motorcycle with sidecar, helped Sgt. Jack get his wish. The ride was led by the Connecticut Patriot Guard and was attended by his family and over 50 riders.

Volunteer #itswhatwedo initiative backstory

The initiative began with John ‘Caddyman” Saville, a radio disc jockey and event host), Judy Barron, executive director of the Community Dining Room, and Diane Pappacoda, executive Director of the Branford Early Learning Center. Ken said Tabby Brown, the Community Dining Room volunteer coordinator was an integral part of this initiative coming to fruition, he added. Engelman is a Strategic Marketing Consultant and current Fundraising Development Director for the Orchard House Medical Adult Day Care in Branford.

Ken explained: “As a 2019 Beacon Award recipient, I joined an exceptional group of volunteers that take community volunteering to an entirely new level. Within the world of volunteering, I learned that volunteering is in our DNA. Before I started volunteering, I thought philanthropy was simply sending money to a cause," he said.

"Since then, my thoughts have changed. I learned that volunteering to help a Veteran with PTSD become matched with a shelter pet as a compassion animal through the national nonprofit Pets for Vets is just as important. I learned that walking a community animal shelter dog could help that dog overcome anxiety which will result in a quicker adoption (spending time with cats will do the same). I learned that preparing meals at the Community Dining Room allows 50+ community families have dinner that evening. I learned that spending time organizing an Alzheimer’s walk can help more people participate and support the cause. Philanthropy is not just sending in money to nonprofits – it is volunteering too, and I am hoping to get this message across to others.”

So to get the word out, he began with websites and a Facebook page.

“Once I decided on a name - Volunteer #itswhatwedo-, I bought URLs and I started a Facebook group called Volunteer #itswhatwedo so that those who volunteer can assist each other to be successful in causes that they are passionate about, or to ask for help from other volunteers.” The effort supports “veterans, shelter pets, families dealing with a loved one with cancer, etc," he said.

“There are countless nonprofits in each community and they all need assistance in one form or another. I then bought 50 Volunteer #itswhatwedo vinyl stickers and handed them out to other volunteers to place on their vehicle back windows to motivate others while sitting behind them in traffic or in drive-thru's to ‘think’ about volunteering. Within one week, I ran out of stickers, so I order 100 more to give out and continue the momentum. At the end of the day, anyone can become a volunteer. It doesn’t take money or a special skill set… it simply takes as little as 30 minutes per week and starts with calling a nonprofit and asking, ‘what do you need’ or ‘how can I help’? It really is that simple."

Engelman describes the group’s creators as “serial” volunteers

“I had first met Cadillac John Saville when I asked him to host my Woofstock on the Branford Green fundraising event in 2013 for the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter and he immediately said yes, and we have been friends since. I met Judy, Tabby, and Diane after I called the Community Dining Room and asked ‘how can I help?’, and we have all been friends since. There are many others in our community that have the ability to help others but are never asked, so I hope this story educates and motivates non-volunteers to volunteer for causes that are close to them, and I hope all volunteers join our free Facebook group page simply to communicate with other volunteers. Together we can accomplish much more than us doing it alone."

Ken’s was inspired to become a volunteer in 2011.

“My rescued Pitbull Jersey Girl didn’t like some food I bought for her, so I donated it to the Dan Cosgrove Animal Shelter in Branford. It was there I met the passionate staff and offered to help them fundraise to help the shelter animals,” he said.

“While traveling extensively for my career in global motorcycle tourism - (I had a lot of downtime in airports, on planes, in hotels, - I created the annual Woofstock on the Branford Green music festival, Animal Carnival at the Pine Orchard Yacht Club in 2014, and Bar-A-Luau at Owenego Beach Club in 2015. I then handed off Woofstock to the staff in 2017 to continue running. At that point, I wanted to help other nonprofits grow and prosper, so I reached out to the Branford Compassion Club, Branford Exchange Club, Alzheimer’s Association – CT Chapter, Best Friends Animal Society, and the national Pets for Vets. Then people around Connecticut started asking me for help and I gladly jumped in while I continued my career.”

In 2017, he was contracted by an Israeli Tourism Company to ride a motorcycle around Israel and then help them build a North American advertising/PR campaign stemming from my experiences, to run in some US motorcycle travel magazines.

“I spent a total of four weeks riding around Israel, and it was while I was over there I decided I want to continue use my skills and abilities for nonprofits I believe in,” he said.

Then, in 2019 when he received the 2019 Beacon Award, he met Barron, Pappacoda, and Brown and started volunteering there.

“Their passion to help others inspired me to do more, give more, and help more for those in need. During a Branford coffee meeting with Cadillac John Saville, Judy Barron, and I, this shared passion was born. Volunteer #itswhatwedo,” he said.

“If this program inspires one, two, five, 20, 100 or more people to volunteer for just 15 minutes a week, hopefully more, we will have helped communities for free,” Engelman said. “This is my official asking other people to volunteer.”