Lighthouse Guild Volunteer Spotlight
Lighthouse Guild was founded by volunteers who envisioned a brighter future for people with vision loss. More than a hundred years later, we now have a large family of volunteers who continue that legacy. Our volunteers are critical to the work we do and help people every day lead more productive and fulfilling lives.
One of the strengths of Lighthouse Guild is its commitment to connecting the right people, partners, and opportunities. Sharing that commitment is Jennifer Heinrich, who has been a volunteer for about two years.
According to Cheryl Pemberton-Graves, Lighthouse Guild’s Chief Volunteer Officer, “In a relatively short time, Jen has volunteered almost 1,200 hours. That’s impressive in and of itself, but even more impressive are the connections she has made and the amazing opportunities she has created for our clients, corporate programs, and volunteers.”
Jen began volunteering while recovering from an illness that precluded full-time employment. She became so excited about her volunteer work that, “I actually took it on as a job, working several hours a day three days a week with Cheryl and her team.” Jen has since started a new job as an event manager for a global investment management firm. She credits the experience and knowledge gained at Lighthouse Guild in equipping her for this role. “Before I began volunteering, I didn’t know about the philanthropic and corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs many organizations have. Because of my volunteer work, I gained an inside look at how CSR programs function, and this will serve me well in my new role.”
Her responsibilities include working with our program directors to come up with ideas, plan and implement events and opportunities. An important aspect of Jen’s role has been recruiting partners to participate in special events for patients and clients. To this end she has built a master list of potential corporate and foundation volunteers that has resulted in 200 prospects, with responses to her outreach yielding support from the American International Group, Inc. (AIG), JPMorgan Chase, Nielsen, Oracle, and Weil Gotshal, among others.
One special initiative Jen developed was a “Day of Wellness” where corporate volunteers from two cosmetology schools provided makeovers and spa treatments to older adults who participate in our GuildCare Adult Day Health Care program. The event was another source of support that enabled GuildCare members to feel good about themselves which can help their emotional and physical health.
How to Help
There are many ways to help, whether in the daytime, evening or weekends, hours are flexible and training is provided for specialized services. Besides individual volunteers, there are corporate volunteer opportunities, which are often engaged to support events for special groups, such as our Youth Transition Program.
If you are someone you know is interested in supporting Lighthouse Guild by volunteering, visit our volunteer page.