Giving thanks by giving back

While Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful for what you have, it is also a time to give back to the community and help those who have less. Bay Windows would like to highlight a few individuals who have donated considerable time to making our community a better place.

Zac Brokenrope donates his time at the LGBT Aging Project's Thursday luncheon called Caf? Emmanuel. Every Thursday, Brokenrope heads to Emmanuel Church on Newbury St. to set out food and chat with LGBT seniors. Brokenrope, a freshman at Boston University, just moved here from Nebraska, where there was not a strong gay community, so he wanted to connect with the community in Boston.

"When I first started coming in, they didn't know I was gay," said Brokenrope. "Someone said to me, 'I just have to ask you, are you one of us or one of them?' I said, 'I [am] one of you,' and they all hugged me."

Brokenrope said volunteering at Caf? Emmanuel has been a great experience because it helps him connect with the past. When these seniors were younger, it was a crime to be gay. Brokenrope said hearing their stories has given him hope for the future.

"I'm intensely proud of them," Brokenrope said. "When you talk to people who lived through the prejudice it really brings it to life. They all have incredible stories."

Rick Larkin volunteers at the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts (AAC) outreach program and was recently elected to the organization's board. Having been diagnosed with HIV in 1986 Larkin said he volunteers because he has been lucky enough to access services that have helped him become a long-term survivor.

"I feel I have a responsibility to help those who don't have the same benefits as me," Larkin said. As a buddy in the outreach program, Larkin provided friendship, emotional support and sometimes a shoulder to cry on for several different buddies.

"You become very close to the individual," he said. "It wouldn't be unusual for a buddy to ask you to go to the doctors with them. You just help them get through their day when they have so many different pressures."

Larkin still sees one of his buddies from 13 years ago. While he couldn't help his buddy's medical condition, their relationship impacted his buddy psychologically and even spiritually, said Larkn.

"It's a testament to what the outreach program does," he said. "I can share my experiences to let them know they are not alone. Its humbling."

Larkin said being on the AAC board has been especially rewarding because he is able to use his network to provide services to people who could not afford them on their own. Larkin said volunteering is especially important in today's economically challenging climate, which means people have less money to give.

"Now's the time for people to volunteer," he said. "It's very worth your while."

Jess Nieuwenhuizen has volunteered at Boston GLASS (Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services), a drop-in center for LGBT people between the ages of 13 and twenty-five. A grad student at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, Nieuwenhuizen volunteered as an intern, helping develop the agency's literary magazine, co-facilitating a weekly woman's group, helping out with Shades of Color, a peer education and leadership development program and most importantly was a peer mentor for members of Boston Glass.

Nieuwenhuizen said she often gets asked why she chose to intern at GLASS since she is straight. "I stick out, but it was a really interesting experience for me," she said. "I wanted to be a part of a community that has a lot of need. They need people who will be accepting."

She said it was satisfying to know she was helping people in the community in which she lives. "It's really wonderful that there's such an impact you can make in your community by spending just an hour. It's just a wonderful place, there's always twelve things going on, which helps people in their daily life, there's always twelve things going on."

Nieuwenhuizen enjoys working with young people because she likes to see people doing well. While volunteering, she got to see people transform from being homeless to applying to college.

"Working with children and teens is so important because for them every moment is the most important moment of their life," Nieuwenhuizen said. "I got to know peoples struggles and strengths and was able to give advice accordingly."

Steve Swanberg, known lovingly around the MassEquality office as "Info Steve," volunteers by answering all of the e-mails sent to the address "info@massequality." In March 2004 -- the height of the marriage equality debate on Beacon Hill, when MassEquality as we now know it was just taking off -- Swanberg decided it was time to get involved. He realized that organizations even needed people just to answer their e-mails. At that point, MassEquality was being bombarded with people seeking information about the issue.

"I just found it was a good niche for me," Swanberg said. "When people write to the 'info' at any organization, how often do they get a personal e-mail back?" Most of the e-mails he gets now are questions about how to get married or how to make a donation. Fortunately, he gets very little hate mail.

A painter and violinist, Swanberg has a flexible schedule that allows him to keep track of all the e-mails he receives, whether he is here in Massachusetts or traveling. "All I need is a computer," he said.

Swanberg enjoys volunteering because he is making a contribution to an important civil rights cause and because he has made many new friends. "You're giving something to your community and you get all these side benefits," he said.

Organizations like MassEquality need volunteers in order to operate. "There are lots of causes that need volunteers," he said. "Things aren't going to get done without them."

So this year, while you're enjoying your turkey, stuffing and yams, make sure you take a moment to give thanks for what you have. Then think about how you can give back.