Community Corner
Volunteer Spotlight: Leslie Demus
Some people volunteer, but most don't make it a major part of their lives. Leslie Demus does both.
A graduate of Barnard College and Columbia University’s School of Law, Demus seeks to help people, and now she does so by being an active volunteer in New Rochelle.
Currently, Demus is the co-president of the Foundation, where she engages in fundraising and makes efforts to improve the library through modernization and program development.
Possibly as a product of her exposure to the arts through her music composer uncle Billy Strayhorn, Demus’ volunteering seems to be sprinkled with creative endeavors.
Says Demus about her efforts creating arts programs, "I think each of us has something inside, something that we treasure, that we would like to make a gift of to other people."
She has been heavily involved in forming cultural enrichment programs such as JAZZMATAZZ (NRPL program) and Cantiamo Insieme! (Let’s Sing Together).
Cantiamo Insieme! was developed in an effort to expose inner-city youths to opera. This project included a performance as well as an after-school program to actively involve the students in this cultural experience through teaching them Italian and giving them an opportunity to put on an original student opera. Mount Vernon’s Grimes Performing Arts Magnet School worked with Lincoln Center performers to create what was to be a memorable experience not only for the students, but for Demus as well.
In a reminder of how volunteering gives back in ways you don’t expect, Demus gleefully recalled a fond memory in that performance where the first and second graders were allowed to come up on stage:
"There was this moment when there was this little girl…in her blue party dress and the tenor is standing there and he is singing. It was like a scene out of a movie, when he turned and there she is…and he takes her and dances her around the stage. And you could hear everybody in the audience go, 'Awe.' Because I am sure every woman thought 'Oh my God—that moment when you are the girl in the blue party dress!'."
These are just a few moments in Demus’ myriad volunteering efforts, but she feels that everyone should get involved in their community and the lives of others.
"I just grew up believing that if you had the time and you had the means, that you kind of had a responsibility to people who weren’t as fortunate as you," Demus said.
