When was your last feel good moment?
You know those times, when you see or hear something that warms your heart, and brings tears to your eyes? When you see the true goodness in people, and realize that the little things are what life is really about? When you put your own worries aside and instead focus on doing something to help someone else?
If it’s been a while since you’ve had a genuine feel good moment, please read on to learn how volunteering can lead to a lot of great moments.
 Cindy Andrews first became a volunteer when she was a student at Penn State, where she was involved with student government, residence hall issues and diversity campaigns. She graduated from college and went to work in the Philadelphia office of IBM – a company with a long standing commitment to United Way. And that marked the beginning of what would become 25 years (and counting) of volunteer service to United Way.
When Cindy transferred to the Cleveland IBM office in the early 1990s, she realized that no matter the city, the United Way presence and commitment remained strong. She volunteered for United Way of Greater Cleveland, using her professional sales skills to help train some of the campaign’s loaned executives, and actually joined them on sales calls.
As Cindy’s career at IBM grew (she is IBM’s Senior Location Executive for northeast Ohio), so did her level of involvement with United Way. She is currently serving her third term as a United Way board member, where she is very involved in the campaign itself.
“I am part of a group that reaches out to donors, thanking them for previous contributions and speaking with them about the coming campaign,” said Cindy. “It’s a very rewarding process, especially when I speak with someone now living in Florida, who still supports United Way of Greater Cleveland because they believe so strongly in the work done here.”
She is also the advisor for the John K. Mott Youth Fund Distribution Committee (YFDC). YFDC gives area high school juniors and seniors the unique opportunity to learn about philanthropy by empowering the youths to make decisions to fund health and human service programs. In 2009, 35 students from Cleveland’s public and private schools participated in the program. They evaluated more than 100 requests for funding from area non-profits. Over the course of the school year, the students met on a monthly basis to review the requests, and determine where to invest their $50,000. This year, with Cindy’s guidance they chose to support 11 different organizations.
“What really touches me about this program is how the kids come together from all different walks of life. We have students from private schools working together with students from the public school systems. If not for their involvement in this program, chances are their paths would never cross,” said Cindy. “The kids living in the communities where the needs are highest, who spend each day in these challenging environments, are able to bring a unique, first hand perspective to this program. All of the kids benefit by getting to see things from different vantage points.”
“I get tears in my eyes when I see the interaction between the students, witness the process, and watch them take ownership of a program that directly benefits their community. When I think about the impact on the community, along with the impact on the kids themselves – learning that we all have things in common, and can work together to make a difference – it just doesn’t get any better than that,” she continued.
This year Cindy also coordinated a collaborative grant application between IBM, Invest in Children, Center for Families and Children, and United Way of Greater Cleveland. “In the past, IBM would provide a small number of KidSmart computers to the Cleveland schools each year, but this year, we wanted to do more. We wrote a competitive grant application that resulted in a $250,000 award that will allow for a donation of close to 100 computers to schools in the Parma, East Cleveland and Cleveland school districts, and to early childhood education centers throughout Cuyahoga County.”
In addition to her United Way involvement, Cindy also chairs the Industrial Advisory Board for the College of Technology at Kent State University, is on the boards of Center for Families and Children, BVU (Business Volunteers Unlimited), and Oberlin Community Services. Cindy lives in Oberlin with her husband and two children. Her husband serves as the superintendent of the Oberlin City Schools; her son is a junior at the high school, and her daughter is in eighth grade.
“I think it’s important to be involved in the communities where I live and work,” she said. “My husband and I get personal satisfaction from volunteering, and we make sure to include our kids in these experiences. What better way is there to teach your kids than to show them every day that we can all help? And we can all give in ways beyond money – we can give help and support.”
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