THE VOICE OF THE C -OP VOLUNTEERS

DECEMBER 2010 | VOLUME 2, ISSUE 7

A Publication from the Michigan Congress Task Force on Volunteerism & Diversity

The Voice of the Volunteerism & Diversity Task Force

Getting to Know Your Task Force

Red- Has been living at Barton Towers for 9 years. Involved as a floor rep, education, con-gress, congress elections, Volunteerism and Diversity Task Force (VDTF), Leasing, Kitchen committee, apartment inspections, and meals. She has 2 children and 4 grandchildren. Pat– Living in Dearborn Heights for 4 years. She is involved in VDTF, congress, congress elec-tions, PR task force, interviewer, floor rep, leasing and a volunteer at Catholic Social Services Mattie– Living in Meyers Plaza for 5 years. Volunteers in gift shop, floor rep, Vice President, congress, congress secretary, VDTF. She really enjoys volunteering! Lorraine– Living in Dearborn Heights for 2.5 years. Floor rep, leasing office, interviewer, congress VDTF. Lorraine has 5 children and 9 grandchildren. She is enjoying life to the fullest! Vivian– Living in Dearborn Heights for the past 8 years, Originally from Philadelphia. Helped out with leasing, congress, interviewer, floor rep, apartment inspection chair, VP, Commodities, VDTF, PRTF. She is a mother of 4 with 7 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild with one on the way. Vivian enjoys karaoke and Wii bowling! Ada– Living in Dearborn Heights for 4.5 years. Volunteered as congress speaker, floor rep, interviewer, worked in leasing, PRTF, VDTF, education, exercise teacher, Sunday school and substitute teacher. Ada has 1 son, 5 grandchildren and 1 great granddaughter. Ada loves people and traveling! Annie– Living in New Horizons for 4 years. VDTF, Floor rep, VP, president, congress, apart-ment inspection chair, set up FOB system on computer, newsletter. Annie has 5 children, 7 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren with one on the way. Krste- Living in Barton Towers for 5 years. VDTF, congress, elections for congress, primary floor rep and alternate floor rep, kitchen, birthday committee, van driver, meals, apartment inspector, Krste is a jack of all trades and is always there to lend a helping hand. Virginia– Living in Meyers Plaza for 12 years. Floor rep, president, VP, leasing, fire marshal, congress, VDTF, apartment inspection, interviewer, secretary. Virginia has 5 children, 6 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren. Shirley– Living in Dearborn Heights for 4 years. Elections, congress, PRTF, VDTF, resale shop. Shirley has 11 children.

Come and Join us on the Task Force! We Are Like a Family and Could Always Use Your Help!

THE VOICE OF THE CO-OP VOLUNTEERS PAGE 2

Postcards From Swaziland After only three years of retirement, my parents, former CSI general man-

ager Fred Wood along with my mother Florence Monnier, made the plunge in July and joined the Peace Corps to volunteer for two years in Swaziland. With the larg-est pandemic of HIV and AIDS in the world, (26% of the entire Swaziland popula-tion has HIV or AIDS) they will be focusing their efforts on education and aware-ness of this horrible disease. Their home (pictured below) has two small bedrooms and a combined kitchen/ living area. This is of course very generous size household per Peace Corps/community standards! It’s located on a well worn path for schoolchildren, so they have regular visits from giggling children eager to speak English and teach them SiSwati, the official language of Swaziland. My mother walking one day and she wrote, “ I met a child with a great big smile and as proficient in English as I am in SiSwati but proud to use that foreign language (both of us!)”. They’ve just finished interviewing over 60 people in their community and are now putting all of this information together so they can figure out the best way they can spread awareness and prevention of AIDS/HIV. After reflecting on their talks they wrote, “Somehow it doesn’t feel like Africa, but just a very poor and very sick country with people who are either very obese or very thin. Yet -smiles abound.” Despite the hardships that abound, the community always seems to pull together and they never cease to amaze my parents with their resourcefulness. You can find a picture below of my mother resourcefully carrying her grocery’s home with a newly bought broom. It must be rubbing off on her, right!? If you wish to send my parents a letter, you can send your kind words to: Wood/Monnier PCV PO Box 236 -Submitted by Lickel Wood, Building Liaison Nhalangano S400 Swaziland

AFRICA

Izola Crockett, Labelle Towers Co-op

She has been a resident of Labelle Towers for 17 years. She wears numerous hats. She is a chairperson for the leasing office, and acts as fire marshal, coordinator of the Thursday Bible class. Additionally she is the assistant first floor rep and gives the Sunshine Report. She gets up early to make coffee and sells doughnuts and coffee to the residents Monday through Friday. This month, under her guidance our vacancies have gone from 63 to 50. Since she has been at Labelle, she has been president, vice president, secretary, and a member of congress. She was also a

member of the volunteer task force. Izola is truly an example of what a volunteer is and does. She truly has the co-op spirit.

-Submitted by Mable Smith, Labelle Towers Co-op

THE VOICE OF THE CO-OP VOLUNTEERS PAGE 3

WHO’S ON THE BOARD? We will be highlighting the board members in our future newsletters so you can put a face and background to the voice you hear at the monthly board calls

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH

-Barbara Shumake- Living nearby, Barbara heard about the opening of Gratiot Woods and Immediately knew it was meant for her. She was one of the first people to sign a lease at Gratiot Woods Co-op and was actually at the ground-breaking. Hitting the ground running, she was the buildings first president. She soon become a board member, leasing chair, education chair and became active in FCRC. Barbara also belongs to the nearby Allen Tem-ple CME. She’s blessed to have 4 children, 12 grandchildren, and 7 great-grandchildren. Barbaras’ best advice is, “Don’t worry about what people think, just trust in the Lord.”

Izola Crockett Labelle Towers Co‐op 

Board Member Barbara Shumake

United U Uniting with each other respecting diversities N Needing to respect the priorities I Importance in recognizing uniqueness in your own way T Temperance meaning self control being careful what to say Y You and I together are the Co-op we work day by day And that’s the democratic Co-op way -Submitted by Lannie King, New Horizons

THE VOICE OF THE CO-OP VOLUNTEERS PAGE 4

The Voice of the Volunteerism & Diversity Task Force What’s Happening in Your Co-op

On November 20th the New Member Orientation took place at New Horizons Co-op and this meeting showed how well our members work together and laugh off little mishaps. We were expecting 100 people and had about 125 in attendance so the first issue was of course the seating and then the food. We managed to seat everyone even though Nancy Evans and a few more of C.S.I. staff had to sit at a table off in the corner and a few peoples chairs were a little close to their neighbors chairs. The food might have proven a huge problem but we are fortunate in that there was a Sam’s Club almost in our back yard and a fast run was made for extras. The excellent kitchen committee proved to work well under stress. The meeting itself went well. Ada Jones spoke about the Advantages of Co-op Liv-ing, the Board Members were introduced by Betty Harris, Noreen Smith asked for the Educa-tion Chairs to introduce their new members, Dorothy Duiguid gave a talk about Getting to Know You, and Noreen Smith gave a very inspirational talk on volunteering. Betty Harris led us in a spirited Co-op Bingo game and Nancy Evans asked everyone to sign a pledge for a Pocket of Excellence. We then enjoyed our video Get in the Game staring co-op mem-bers. Two things impressed me about this meeting. The first thing I noticed was the diversity of the people attending and the comradry among our members. The second being, even though just about anything that could go wrong, did, everyone had a good time and left with big smiles and many hugs.

Submitted by: Annie Mitchell, New Horizons Co-op 

Reflection Corner Unity When we unite, we can get many things done But it would be very difficult with only one It is said “in unity we stand, divided we fall” But much can be accomplished if we stand tall When one speaks he’s sometimes hardly heard So when you come together you will strengthen your word So try to institute the pie plan And each one select a slice, doing what you can Many things come to pass if you stand hand in hand We will work with one another like sister and brother People with people helping each other Submitted by Lannie King

THE VOICE OF THE CO-OP VOLUNTEERS PAGE 5

WORLD COUNTRIES BEGINNING WITH P, Q, R, T

PAKISTAN

PALAU PANAMA

PARAQUAY PERU

PHILIPPINES POLAND

PORTUGAL QATAR

ROMANIA RUSSIA

RWANDA TAIWAN

TAJIKISTAN TANZANIA TOBAGO

TOGO TRINIDAD TUNISIA TURKEY

TURKMENISTAN TUVALU

Word Search Submitted by

Annie Mitchell, NH

SUDOKU TIME! It's easy to play Sudoku! Simply fill every

column, row and 3 x 3 box so they contain every number between 1 and 9.

Don't go too fast! The game is easy to play but difficult to master!

Puzzle from websudoku.com

THE VOICE OF THE CO-OP VOLUNTEERS PAGE 6

A Publication from the Michigan Congress Task Force on Volunteerism & Diversity

See if you can spot the

co-op logo!!

It looks like this

but will be much smaller and is hidden

somewhere in the newsletter.

COME AND JOIN US

All co-op members are welcome to join

* * * Dearborn Heights Co-op invites all co-op members to

their Bazaar on December 10th between 10 and 3pm. There will be many items to purchase from a wide array of vendors. Dearborn Heights is also looking for some competition for Wii

bowling! If you would like to participate in a Wii bowling tournament, please call Ernestine Greyer at 313-657-4930

HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE WITH THE TASK FORCE ON VOLUNTEERISM & DIVERSITY?

Please submit a story for our next issue by faxing or emailing it to Lickel Wood at

586-753-9022 or lickel.woodl@csi.coop

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR CO-OP?

All co-op volunteers are welcome to submit a short story about any volunteer related news from their co-op, such as volunteer appreciation celebrations, the success of any particular committee, etc.

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH

Members are welcome to submit a write-up and a picture of a special co-op volunteer. The write-up should include why you consider this person the volunteer of the month. If we receive more than one write-up, we will vote on the ones we consider the best. So, if your volunteer didn’t get published in that particular issue, don’t give up.

COME AND JOIN US Invite all co-op members to events you might be having at your co-op, such as open houses, breakfasts, bazaars, etc.