November 2022

Volunteer Spotlight: Margaret Maxwell

Having spent her early years in the South, 32 years ago Margaret Maxwell moved to Los Angeles to go to law school. She enjoyed a career as a successful attorney before retiring in Hermosa Beach where she’s been for the past 20 years.

Margaret wasn’t ready to completely retire so, she started looking for something different to keep her body and mind healthy.

To keep her brain active, Margaret turned to classic books that she never had time to read during her career. To keep her body moving, Margaret and her husband spent time hiking around LA and in Wyoming and enjoying snow season sports. She also loved to visit her local Beach Cities gym (CHF) and it was here – during the pandemic – that she noticed the outside gym set-up for those lockdown weeks required lots of extra work from the staff.

Margaret wasn’t new to volunteering because she had previously supported APLA Health and the LA Food Bank. Talking about how it all started at BCHD, Margaret said, “I saw them working hard to set up the outside classes, wheeling the spin bikes around and getting people checked in. It just looked like they could use a little extra help, and it was no inconvenience to me.”

Margaret’s first official volunteering day at the Community Services administrative desk was one to remember! June 7th; the day of the California primary election and a power outage at the Prospect campus! “The first day was crazy,” she said. “Lots of people were confused, so I spent my shift directing them to the stairwells, various rooms and answering their questions.”

In quieter times, Margaret spends her volunteering hours on the Community Services front desk answering the phone, using BCHD resource lists to answer basic questions and collecting information for staff to provide further assistance. Recently, she has also served as a Campus Greeter and an Errand Volunteer. Margaret’s bubbly personality helps to make everyone’s visit that much happier. What makes Margaret’s support so valuable is that she’s great at judging her audience.

“There is no point in telling someone to look for information on the Internet if it’s obvious that they may not be comfortable doing that,” she said. “It’s like being a sleuth. Carrying out basic detective work to help each individual in the best possible way.”

Now, as Community Services settles in at Del Amo, Margaret and the other BCHD volunteers are back greeting callers and making their days easier and happier.

“I learn something new every day,” she explains. “It really is so interesting with no day or hour ever being the same. My advice to anyone else considering volunteering is to make the leap and commit to giving some time to BCHD. It’s so rewarding, you’ll make great connections, and it will certainly enrich your life.”

Volunteer Opinion Survey Prize Winners!

As thanks to our volunteers for participating in our annual opinion survey, we offered a prize drawing, and we are pleased to announce this year’s winners!

• $50 Amazon Gift Card: Christine Ng, LiveWell Kids Garden Angel Volunteer
• $50 Dive N’ Surf Gift Card: Jenni Pusateri, Restaurant Ambassador Volunteer
• $50 Good Stuff Gift Card: Joey Farrales, Strategic Planning Committee Volunteer
• $50 Manhattan Bread and Bagel Gift Card: Penny Berry, CHF Front Desk Volunteer
• $50 Rabano Gift Card: Vincent Tipaldo, Errand Volunteer

Volunteer Services will contact winners to redeem their prize. STAY TUNED! Survey results will be published in an upcoming newsletter.

Interested in volunteering (getting back to it or taking the next step to volunteer) with BCHD? See below for what’s currently available and please stay tuned to our newsletters and website as new opportunities arise! Anyone interested is welcome to fill out our Volunteer Application at www.bchd.org/volunteer. If you are or have been a BCHD volunteer or if you have questions, you’re invited to email us at Volunteers@bchd.org.

Campus Greeter – High Need

Volunteers (14+) meet all guests who enter the 514 building while also providing general support and customer service duties for the full BCHD campus. Duties include greeting guests and tenants, providing information and referrals to the public, walking visitors to/from medical appointments or allcove Beach Cities upon request, maintaining a clean and orderly area and tracking volunteer hours worked. Must be friendly, helpful and able to push wheelchairs and walk around the campus. Weekly 2-3- hour shift required for one year; scheduling available Monday – Saturday. *Expected commitment for High School students is a semester or over the summer.

AdventurePlex Camp Volunteer – High Need

AdventurePlex is looking for volunteers (14+) to help kids play their way to good health at our AdventureCamp! Duties include monitoring adventure room, keeping facility area clean and safe, assisting with activities (arts and crafts, classes and rock climbing) and checking in/out guests at front desk. One shift a week required, Monday-Friday, either 9:00am – noon or 12:30pm-3:30pm. Available dates are as follows:

• Monday, December 19 – Friday, December 23
• Monday, December 26 – Friday December 30
• Monday, January 2 – Friday, January 6
• January 16

Administrative Office Front Desk Volunteer

Our Admin and Community Services departments are looking for volunteers (18+) to help with telephone coverage; front desk screening of staff and visitors; periodic disinfection of shared spaces; mail and package distribution; badge making; supplies inventory; assembling marketing packets; assisting with Help Desk Ticket tasks and projects. Weekly 4-hour shift commitment on a regular basis is required. 

Conversation Companion: Support Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities

Volunteers (18+) are matched with older adult clients and/or adult clients with disabilities to visit and engage in socialization activities such as life review, watch movies at home or in the theater, play card or board games, take walks, go for lunch, etc. Weekly one to one-and-a-half hour shift commitment.

Errand Volunteer: Support Older Adults and Adults with Disabilities

Errand Volunteers (18+) are matched with one of our Community Services Care Management clients and do weekly shopping for basic needs like groceries and prescriptions. Weekly one to one-and-a-half hour shift commitment for at least three months required.

Spread Cheer This Year with Holiday Gift Bags

Believe it or not, Beach Cities Health District has already kicked off this year’s Holiday Gift Bag project for the 2022 holiday season. Holiday Gift Bags give the community an opportunity to support older adults and adults with disabilities in the community, many of whom are homebound and live in isolation. Ways to Participate:

Donate. To fund the Holiday Gift Bag project, we are seeking $8,000 in donations. Make a $25 contribution and receive a card to send to a friend or relative, letting them know that a holiday gift bag has been given in their honor. Make a $100+ donation by December 1st and we will thank you in a local newspaper.

Deliver a Holiday Gift Bag. Volunteer and deliver cheer to an older adult in the Beach Cities. This opportunity is open to individuals or groups such as families and organizations who would like to deliver gift bags in December. Signups open October 31st. Click the button below to donate or sign up to volunteer.

Get Creative. Help color and decorate holiday cards, which will be inserted in each holiday gift bag and delivered to our older adult clients. For more information and to participate, click the button below.

Event Volunteer Opportunities

It is important for Beach Cities Health District to be out in the community sharing our programs and resources to our residents. See below on the community events we’ll be participating in. Share with friends and family and volunteer together! You can sign up to as many events as you would like to volunteer in!

We do not currently have any special events requiring volunteers. Please use this link to fill out the form to get on our distribution list and be advised of upcoming events.

2022 Volunteer Hours

We appreciate all the commitment of our community to help others. We are grateful for the 25,716 reported hours of BCHD volunteer service in 2021. This number includes vaccines administered, groceries shopped for, prescriptions picked up, calls made, Center for Health & Fitness front desk check-ins, committees met, administrative support, intern projects, gardens kept, and more. Thank you all!

Here’s a look at the volunteer hours logged thus far in 2022:

January 1,041

February 2,033

March 1,105

April 959

May 1,840

June 738

July 2,397

August 1,738

September 2,083

October 1,324

Total: 15,258

Volunteer Anniversaries

Although many of you still are not back to actively volunteering in your usual roles, we are endlessly grateful for your commitment. The many collective years of efforts toward a healthy beach community from our volunteer corps is truly incredible.

November Anniversaries

Peggy Kramer, 10

Gina Ruben, 8

Vijay Jeste, 7

Denise Fucci, 6

Kim Fukumoto, 4

Nancy Henderson, 3

Alex Barkopoulos, 1

Eric Nakamura, 1

Official years of service in BCHD system.