Some women hold full-time jobs outside the home. Others are involved in part-time work or volunteer service in addition to caring for their own families. Many have young children. Rushing from meetings and appointments to sports practices and school activities, these women work hard to fulfill all the commitments they have undertaken. Their accomplishments are significant, making a real difference to the community. Who does all this? Why do they do it? How do they find the time? We asked a group of women, all of whom give their time to Community Answers, and who represent a broad spectrum of interests and ages, to share their thoughts.

Marie Wardell                

Balancing family, health issues, and an active volunteer life

Marie has a very busy family life but she is also an active volunteer for a variety of organizations in town. She says she is motivated to volunteer by her family. They are the most important thing in my life. My husband, Dave, and I moved to Cos Cob from Westchester in 1994 and have two boys, David, age 15 and Timothy, age 12. I take pride in being a homemaker and anything I can do to make their lives better is a bonus for all of us. So, outside the home, I try to get involved in things that interest my family.

Another motivator for Marie is having survived cancer. She says Breast cancer and chemotherapy gave me time to evaluate all the things that are important to me and my family. At one time I had a problem saying no. Typically, I would put my needs last. While I was ill, I learned to take control and I try not to take on too much as I know my limitations. She has worked hard on setting priorities and now she feels the things she needs to do and the things she wants to do are pretty well balanced. She describes her hobbies. I love music. I grew up in a musical household and play piano and guitar, but not as often as Id like. I love sports, especially swimming, and working out at the gym. A favorite pastime is watching old movies. I love to cook and read. But, like everyone we talked with, she says there is never enough time in the day to finish it all.

Marie is also motivated by her wish to give back to the town. The Greenwich community offers so much to our family that I want to give back to the community in some way. Marie does this in many ways.

Upon arrival in Greenwich she spent a few years working for ARC. Then she became involved in the Boy Scouts, first as a den leader for both her boys Cub Scout dens and later as Advancement Chair for Troop 10 Boy Scouts. True to her goal to work on interests that impact her family, she has been active in the PTA . Now, she volunteers at Greenwich High School and Community Answers.

Marie says that she learned the greatest lessons in multi- tasking from my mother. She was a single parent raising three kids and maintaining a house and a job. As an adult, I often wonder how she did it all. She is 79 years old now and can still run circles around most people I know.

The upside to Marie’s busy life, she says, is the feeling of accomplishment and that she is making a difference. An added bonus is the wonderful people she meets in her volunteer activities. As a two-year breast cancer survivor, I have realized that our time on earth can be very short. I want my time to be worthwhile and helpful to others. I feel this is one of the most important lessons to teach our children.

Chitra Shanbhogue         

Moving and adapting to each new community

Chitra, a native of India, has lived in the United States for fifteen years, and in those fifteen years she has moved as many times, living in four different states and attending three different universities. Each move has taught her something new and exposed her to a new way of life. When she first arrived in the US she came to join her husband in Ithaca where he was finishing up his PhD in computer science. Upon his graduation the newlyweds headed west to Wichita, Kansas. There they welcomed the first of their daughters and made lifelong friends with whom they still keep in touch. Chitra started her degree in Communicative Disorders at Wichita State University. Her plan to be an audiologist got postponed when the family moved again to Chicago to allow her husband to start his MBA at the University of Chicago. In Chicago Chitra started her own business, Chitra's Papers and Gifts. She also taught in a preschool and ran the mothers day-out program in two schools. But winter got too much for the Shanbhogues, so after graduation they headed to Houston. There they had eight wonderful years and welcomed their second daughter into the family. Chitra also finished up her degree in clinical psychology with a thesis on central auditory processing disorder.

Did she use this degree in her new job? No, her personality got her the position as Executive Director of the Indo- American Chamber of Commerce of Houston, where she had the pleasure of rubbing shoulders with many noted personalities, being a radio host, a media spokesperson, an event coordinator for 2500 people and other exciting challenges.

In the summer of 2003 the Shanbhogues relocated to Greenwich and Chitra dove into getting to know her new hometown. In the short time she has been here Chitra  is the cookie mom for her daughters girl scout troop, the Co-Chair for the Afters program at the Riverside school and also runs the schools Befores Spanish program. In October of 2004 she became the Executive Director of Community Answers and has been busy preparing the Summer Resource Guide for Greenwich residents to use for their summer plans and also working on the April 10th fundraiser, Fun with  Fashion  Where the Kids are the Stars. The fundraiser will be held at the Hyatt and Chitra, the Co-Chairs, and a team of volunteers are hard at work to make the event a success.

Anita Lai            

Involving the whole family

Anita Lai and her husband, Lip, moved to Greenwich from England in October, 1995, intending to stay for only one year. Nine years and one child, Emanuel, later, they are still very happy residents of Greenwich. Lip is a computer programmer and Anita works two paid days a week for a travel agency.

Volunteering has always been a big part of Anita's life.  For nine years she spent every Wednesday morning in Community Answers office, answering questions from callers  about the organizations, services and programs in town. She also served on Community Answers Board of Directors as its treasurer for two years. Through her volunteer work at Community Answers, Anita learned about her new town and also found her job at the travel agency. She also made many good friends among the other volunteers. Every six months Anita visits a dear friend in Oregon whom she met  on her shift at Community Answers nine years ago,

Anita says: I feel that we have so much that I must serve my community by cooking, or by donating food and clothes or my time. I am gratified to feel useful and to be a part of my community. For Anita and her husband this is a family affair. They cook and serve dinner once a month at Pacific House, a shelter for the homeless, an undertaking that they have enjoyed during nine years in Greenwich. We provide Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for a Greenwich senior who lives alone, plus  a local family of seven children whose mother is blind and whose father is employed only when seasonal work is available. And each year we do an angel tree for children in Greenwich. Lai knows that there is not enough time to do all that she would like to, so at the beginning of the year she picks the groups she feels strongly about and then strictly adheres to that list. 

One day, Anita hopes that Emanuel, who is two years old, will understand that his Mom considers volunteer work to be very important and learn first-hand about the value of  giving back something to his community.

Helen Hammond                            

Demonstrating that age is no barrier

Every Monday morning Helen Hammond climbs the ten stairs to the Community Answers office and begins her volunteer job. She has carved out some special responsibilities for herself here, updating our mailing lists  being one of them.  She scans the obituaries in the local newspapers for names that should be removed from the lists.               

Helen, however, is not your typical volunteer. She is a spry cheerful 92-year old, one of three surviving children. She has a younger sister who is 89 and an older sister who is 96. She moved to Greenwich in 1996 to live with her son after she had hurt her hip. Helen has two sons, ten grandchildren, and seventeen great grandchildren, and she keeps in touch with them via e-mail. Helen drives herself to her many activities and social engagements. She meets friends for lunches and dinners, attends church, watches movies at the library on Wednesday afternoons and Friday nights, and loves to play Scrabble and do jigsaw puzzles.

Growing up on a farm in Missouri, Helen says she feels close to nature. There she says she learnt life's lessons, which have stood her in good stead. She does not believe in labeling people or holding grudges. She enjoys coming to Community Answers to volunteer because she feels alert and active when interacting with our many volunteers. Helen likes being with people who give back and help the community. Her philosophy in life has always been Forget the Past, it is Ashes, enjoy your Today, it is the Present.