Photograph by Douglas Rider
Ratketeer Little Chucky, played by Sunnyvale Public Safety Captain Chuck Eaneff, sucks his thumb during a play called 'A Dizknee Salute,' in which staff members from Sunnyvale Community Services played variations of Disney characters.
Small World
Sunnyvale Community Services recognizes the hard work of its many volunteers
By Jana Seshadri
Without help and support from volunteers and donors, Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS) cannot do what it has been doing for the past 10 years, said Nancy Tivol, executive director. And what the nonprofit emergency-assistance agency does is help about 10,000 people every year with services and 3,000 people every year with just financial assistance.
"Because of our volunteers and donors, we are able to help more people," Tivol said.
Apart from the financial aid with which the agency helps needy families, there are innumerable services that SCS undertakes that cannot be accomplished without its volunteers.
"We've been very fortunate in getting volunteers," she said.
The economic slump has increased the number of people who have been laid off in Silicon Valley and who now need help with daily living. The number of people out of work for more than six months has increased by more than 70 percent in the past year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In such troubled times, volunteers have dedicated more time than ever.
And to express appreciation to these committed and dedicated individuals, SCS threw a party on April 29 in the donated Grand Ballroom of the Historic Del Monte building on Murphy Avenue in downtown Sunnyvale. With the hall filled to capacity, invitees and honorees were treated to good food, gifts and awards and an entertainment show titled "A Dizknee Salute," to honor Walt Disney's 100th birthday.
"Nancy has this knack of changing words and songs around from the originals," said Marie Ayende, director of volunteer operations for SCS.
The SCS board members donned colorful costumes donated by Debbie Lyn's Costumes and participated in a creative program incorporating popular Disney songs. Suzi Blackman, president and CEO of the Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce, made a special appearance as Minnie Mouse and danced around the decorated tables to "Suzi Blackman March," sung to the tune of "Mickey Mouse Club March." Nancy Wu, director of emergency assistance programs for SCS, dressed as Snow White and was referred to as "Snow Wu."
The Disney songs that the SCS members performed had all the words changed to pertain to SCS's different programs. "Some Bags Full of Groceries" was sung to the tune of "A Spoonful of Sugar" and "It's a Big job After All" was sung to the tune of "It's a Small World After All."
More than 700 volunteers put in their time and effort at SCS every year, which keeps the agency's overhead costs low, according to Tivol.
"They spend about 15,000 to 20,000 volunteer hours at SCS a year," Tivol said. "That saves us $120,000 to $150,000 or five to six full timers."
Volunteers help out with the agency's different programs. There are two lobby administrators in the front office constantly answering phone calls and questions from walk-in individuals.
"I spend about three to four hours every week in the front lobby," Sunnyvale resident Frank Garcia said.
Garcia, who has lived in the city since 1975, volunteers about nine hours every week using his Spanish language skills at SCS's Language Bank as well.
The monthly food program for seniors and needy families is another service that SCS provides. According to Tivol, during the last three years the number of families participating in SCS's food programs has increased from 380 to 650. Meeting the trucks from the Second Harvest Food Bank, volunteers unload the food, sort it and pack the groceries into bags and distribute them. More than 30 employees from Philips Semiconductors have been helping out with bagging food every month since 1996. Besides that, they volunteer during the annual Christmas drive and conduct breakfast drives. In their "Adopt-a-day" program, the company assumes all the financial responsibility for running SCS for one whole day.
"Our budget for that is $950," said Rita Guntern, champion of the volunteer effort for three years.
Guntern said her whole family gets involved with SCS and volunteers their time to different causes. Guntern and her family were honored at the event. Philips Semiconductors paid the costs for the event and received honorable mention by Tivol.
Photograph by Douglas Rider
During a play April 29 at the historic Del Monte building, 'Snow Wu,' played by Debbie Wu, passes out bags used for Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS) food drives during the holiday season. The event was held to honor donors and volunteers associated with SCS.
The Christmas Store is SCS's most visible annual event. Almost 1,000 volunteers work tirelessly to make this a success every year. With special donations of food, gifts and toys from corporations and individuals, SCS invites its qualified families to "shop" in their store free of charge. Advanced Micro Devices in Sunnyvale conducted a toy drive and donated $40,000 worth of toys to the Christmas store. Students from Homestead High School were honored for collecting more than $200,000 worth of food during last year's Christmas drive.
The Chinese Senior Club, which runs social programs for SCS, was honored with the song, "Tsung Wah Chee Ying Kong Low Whey Cher-ee," sung to the tune of "Chim Chim Cher-ee."
"We want to especially honor our Language Bank this year," Tivol said.
The Language Bank program, which began six years ago, helps residents and their families cope with and learn the basics of the English language. More than 100 volunteers, with 48 different language skills and competency, help out at the language bank, according to Ayende.
"This is the only service in the area that covers so many languages," Ayende said.
While primarily helping Sunnyvale, these multilinguists do help out in schools and public safety departments in neighboring cities if needed, she said.
Ruriko Yamaki, 38, said she started volunteering about a year ago, after she and her husband moved to California from Japan. Yamaki said she likes it because she feels that her Japanese language skills are being well-utilized.
"I was crying at the event because I was so happy," Yamaki said.
Whenever elementary or middle school students need help with English, Yamaki gets called in to help. Yamaki said she works with special education program students and sometimes even with child psychologists; the number of hours she puts in depends on the need.
Tina Tsai uses her Mandarin Chinese language skills to help at the Language Bank program. Tsai also works with Yamaki to train new volunteers.
People interested in volunteering for the Language Bank need to go through an interview process, send in writing samples and undergo an orientation process. It is necessary that Language Bank volunteers are fluent and well-versed in both English and another language, Tsai said.
Grammatical English is not the only concern among SCS's clients, Tivol said.
"Our volunteers also help with the jargon and terminology used by people," she said.
The Language Bank volunteers were each given a special gift as special recognition at the April 29 event. Corporate and private donors received plaques. Jennifer Wells, from County Supervisor Pete McHugh's office, read aloud letters from SCS clients who were saved from hunger and homelessness by the agency's help.
The final piece of the entertainment program was "We All Wish upon a Star," sung to the tune of "When You Wish upon a Star," which relayed SCS's wish and aim--to end homelessness and hunger in Sunnyvale.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
