- Hi neighbors.

Welcome to look for the Helpers, portraits and Community Service.

I'm Cynthia Tyler.

In every community there are those who step up to lend a helping hand, giving their time and putting in the energy to make life better for those around them.

They don't do it for the recognition, but because they care and it's what keeps our communities growing strong.

Tonight we sit down with two of our neighbors making a difference in the place that we call home.

Tony Roy missed one meeting and ended up on a path as a leader for several grassroots organizations and Jack t Rathbun talks about how his family history of working together to support the Irish Festival has inspired his service.

Please join me as we celebrate our local volunteers.

With me.

I have somebody very, very special here in the north country.

This is Tanya Roy Wear of many Hats and great community helper has built so many fantastic organizations and helped out so many more.

And it all started by missing a hockey meeting.

All right.

Tell us how it started.

- My children were young.

My kids learned to play hockey about the time they were five and we were from Lewis County and the Lewis County Hockey Association plays hockey outside.

Their rink is outside their, it's a very small organization and it was small enough that it was going to, it wouldn't be in existence anymore.

It was, it was going to disappear.

And so I joined the board to see if I could help and I missed a meeting and they voted me in as president and I became the president of the Lewis County Hockey Association for 10 years.

- And you just kept on going right after that?

- Yes, and actually the, I am very, very proud to be able to say that I was part of building what Lewis County Hockey has become.

So they have, you know, all kinds of new and great things happening there 20 years later.

But that's, I really, I always tell people don't miss meetings.

This is what happens if you do.

They will assign you jobs and then you'll be stuck with them.

But all these years later it is really nice to be able to say that I was part of building that.

- That's fantastic.

So it started out with sports and yours, your work and service has spanned the gamut of all kinds of, of help and services.

So one of the ones I think is so, so exciting here in the north country is the happy period of the north country.

Can you tell us about - That?

Yes.

So oddly enough, I kind of stumble into these things backward.

I missed a meeting I say a couple of years ago, but it was actually 2019.

I took my daughters to Syracuse to do some Christmas shopping and one of the places that we stopped had a box that was collecting period product for a nation nationwide organization called hashtag Happy period.

And I came home, thought about that someone else in our local community happened to, that I am friends with, happened to post on Facebook that she had seen something similar in a completely different community and was interested in being an ambassador for them.

So together we started hashtag happy period, which then evolved and became its own not-for-profit out of Watertown.

It serves the Tri-County area and it is called Happy period North Country.

- Fantastic.

And, and you've, and you've donated to schools and libraries and, - And anyone who asks - Anyone that asks that you met that need, that's absolutely fantastic.

- And there are now other organizations in the community that are doing similar things and that's really nice.

We are a grassroots, tiny organization that does the work of collection and redistribution, but all organizations, you know, need people who do things at that small grassroots level, boots on the ground we like to call them.

And then people who have to have like the big picture.

And so it is nice to work with other organizations to spread the word, do the most good.

- So all of this and we'll, we'll get more into the other things that you volunteered for in here in a few minutes, but where did all this start?

Did you have a special, somebody in your life that inspired you to volunteer?

- So recently I actually started thinking about this because I do do things that are wide and varied and what it really focuses on is the idea that I want to live in a community that is the best community it can be.

I strive every day to make the arts community better, you know, for, to fight for women's health in our community and those kinds of things.

So I have kind of fingers in all of those and I realize now if I really stop and think about it, that although I never saw my mother go to a board meeting, I never saw my mother do those kinds of things.

My mom was a somebody as in somebody has to do something.

So she did.

And that clearly has rubbed off on me because if something needs to be done, if somebody needs to do it now that's me.

- And you certainly do and you pick it, you pick it up and you barrage right into it because you are also going into the community arts support.

Yes.

You touched on that here a few minutes ago.

And so it's Harmony, NNY we've had Mr.

Fo on before here.

It was fantastic.

So it's Harmony, NNY and the Strand Theater.

How do you help support that?

- So they have a, a very large board, but we have a very small spoken word community in, in our community.

There just are not nearly as many spoken word artists as there are musical artists.

And so I joined the board to kind of be the voice of spoken word, poetry, storytelling, improv, you know, those kinds of things.

And so out of that grew a very small group that is growing every day called Spoken Word of NNY.

And we write grants for, for paying artists to perform in that vein of spoken word.

So I am that representative, I am that voice on that much larger board and that also relates to the business that I own.

So it's been helpful to kind of be able to pull all of that together in one place and have the expertise that helps a not-for-profit.

A lot of the time when you join it, you kind of, everyone has a a niche, everybody has a place, a thing that they can do, a thing, a niche that they can fill.

And so with Harmony, NNYI am able to bring in lots of expertise in lots of different areas, but also bring in different artists or people who want to perform but not perform music.

- Oh, and again, finding a need, filling the need that seems to be your mo and and just about all of the amazing work that you do.

Yeah, - I am not a musician, I am not a hockey player.

So it is, it is also a way for me to practice the things that I love and the things that make me who I am.

Because a lot of those, a lot of the times those are small communities.

There are not a lot of storytellers here.

So you know, we, and then that grows into bigger and bigger things.

So you know, then it grows out into reading and writing and all of the other things that I really enjoy doing and then all of a sudden it becomes a whole community of people.

Fantastic.

- Now in all of these fantastic endeavors that you have, is there a single moment or a memory that stands out to you as your blue moment cure the thing that you look to to kind of pull yourself up and keep going?

- You mean other than showing up at a meeting and being told I'm the president of the hockey association, most of those moments are not related to me.

You know, there is the moment that I donated my kids' hockey equipment back to the hockey association when they no longer played.

And that's actually a picture I have on my phone is, you know, these two 12 year olds walking away with my kids' equipment.

A lot of the time when it comes to the arts, it's watching my friends do the things that they love to do.

I truly, truly enjoy creating spaces for people to do the things that they love and those things are never the same twice.

So, you know, it be volunteering allows me to not only see where the need is, but to see people at their best and then find places that they can do the things that make them be the best versions of themselves or help them be the best versions of themselves.

- Spoken like a true storyteller.

Absolutely.

Well said.

Now with all those happy memories and all of that, there are bound to be some challenges.

What are some of the big challenges or conflicts that you face in all of this - When you are a big picture person like I am, it is sometimes hard to not do things in a big way.

And you know, there are times that everything seems to be on a crash course at exactly the same time.

So if I'm working with Lyric Theater and Little Theater and Harmony at the Strand, all of those, you know, may merge at one point in time.

And so you have, I'm sure all volunteers say this, but you have to be able to delegate and I'm not very good at that.

So that is a skill that I am learning and a skill that I am practicing.

But the other thing too is it's really helpful if you can take a step back and let other people do the things that they are good at.

And sometimes it feels, especially when you're the president of an association or you're the president of an organization like Happy period, like spoken word of NNY people just assume that you will do all of these things.

You know, you will create the event, find the talent, do the posting to Facebook and the advertising, sell the tickets, write the grants, sell the tickets, - Wave the signs, - Right?

- Yeah, - Exactly.

And so sometimes you get caught up in doing all of those things, but there are people, and this is the importance of volunteering, even if you don't think that you have anything to add, there is always something that you can do in a very small way that is not only helping the organization and helping the community, but helping the other people who are volunteering to do the things that they feel equipped to do.

- Well said.

Absolutely.

So what are some positions of volunteering that people can do in your organizations?

Take for instance, happy period.

If somebody wants to reach out and help, what can they do?

- So we have a lot of people who reach out and ask to volunteer.

And then what we do is we email them when we have the opportunity to have a table in an at an event or we've been asked to march in a parade or look, we just combined, we worked together with little theater and they produced a show that we sponsored and had a table and then we were collecting product at the table during the show.

So, you know, that's, I can't be in the show and be at the table collecting product and, and all of those things at once.

So sometimes it's very small like just let me know if you need me.

And then once a year there's a need that you can fill.

I think one of the things that people don't understand about not-for-profits is they all have to be run by boards and those boards have to have a minimum of five people.

So, you know, being a secretary, being a treasurer for small organizations doesn't take a lot larger organizations, you know, you're required to go to monthly meetings, those kinds of things.

Showing up at meetings is important, not just because you may be voted the president, but also because that's kind of where tasks get delegated.

It means if everyone shows up to the meeting, it's one less email that someone has to send.

And all of those things don't go happen as quickly as you would think they, they do.

So if you have time to commit to one meeting a month, a larger organization might be a good place for you.

If not than just reaching out and saying, if you ever need anything, email me.

And you might get 10 emails a year and you can only help with one thing.

But that is one thing that we are happy to have you show up for.

- Okay, fantastic.

Now we're gonna wrap this up with something.

Now you, you've spoken so beautifully about everything that you've done here.

What do you say to somebody to inspire them to volunteer?

- You didn't prompt me for that one.

I have to think about that for a minute.

I don't know what people have said to me to inspire me because I do go out and look for things to do.

But I understand that not everyone does and not everyone sees the need when it is there.

But I do think that the idea that you can create the community you want to live in, that we don't all have the option to move to a place that has a thriving arts community or a thriving spoken word community or a thriving hockey program.

And so here we're used to driving we're, you know, we're used to spending time on the road, going to places that have the things we want, but truly volunteering is the way that you create the community you want to live in.

- Perfectly said, be the change you want to see in the world - And together we can do the most good.

- Well Tanya, thank you so much for coming on the show and talking about all your fantastic work and we wish you the best of luck in your future.

Thank you.

I have Jack Raf Bun from the Blessed Sacrament Parish.

You're an active volunteer.

Welcome.

Welcome.

We're so happy to have you.

- Thank you for having me.

- So I understand that you are a volunteer at the very local popular event, the Irish Festival.

- Yes.

And you - Have been there since you were born?

- Pretty much.

Yeah.

- So why, how about that?

Tell us about it.

- Well the Irish Festival, it's in Clayton every year now.

It's a real good time.

Me and my family cook all the food there and my grandma does the finances usually, so Okay.

We have a - Lot of fun.

So you cook all, so you're the one responsible for a lot delicious corn, beef and potatoes?

- Well, for the most part, yeah, - For the most part.

And the cabbage and all the delicious things.

Yes.

Okay.

Well now I understand that this has been going on since your grandfather's time, correct?

- Yes.

- And you, he was the one who inspired your family to go get involved in all of - That?

Yes, he was.

- And you've been raised in moving right along through it?

- Yep.

So my grandfather started, I don't know, 20 years ago maybe, maybe longer than that.

And sadly he passed away last year.

So it kind of, this Irish festival was kind of a toll on the heart for us.

Oh.

But, so every year he always made us go to the Irish Festival and volunteer and help him cook all the food and do everything for him.

So it was honestly kind of sad this year to not have him, but he was the one that started us and that's why we're gonna keep doing it probably until RIS Festival Disp expands, which hopefully never.

So - Hopefully never.

Yeah.

What a wonderful way to honor a family legacy.

So it's family that inspired you Yeah.

To do volunteering and I Do you have any other volunteer projects that you're working on - At the moment?

No.

A week ago I was at JCC for a soccer camp with a bunch of little kids all age, all ages.

So it was kinda Oh that's, it was pretty fun.

Yeah, - That is very fun.

'cause you play sports, right?

- Yeah, I played for the soccer team up there and we hosted a, a camp for everyone in the area to come to and it was a pretty good turnout.

There was a lot of kids and it, it was a lot of fun personally.

- Fantastic.

Now I understand that you're going to be going into not one but two educational stretches as you go on.

You're gonna be getting your master's, or excuse me, your business - Yes.

- Degree.

And you're also gonna be going into the trades?

- Yes, I'll go to trade school after I finish.

- Okay, fantastic.

So you're really, you're really filling out your resume there.

But I also wonder, we were talking earlier and you were saying that as you go for your business degree and all of that, that that would be useful to do what in the organizations?

- It'd be useful for financial reasons and my, in my family's personal business and for helping in the future I can work with financial parts, with volunteering and stuff like that for th festival and other things I do in the community also with the church.

I could be on the financial committee with the church and that stuff.

So - That's right.

'cause it's, as we've talked so often on the show, there's so many different ways to, to volunteer and it's not just boots on the ground sometimes it's doing desk work, like crunching numbers and making sure that everything gets balanced out correctly.

Yes.

So that's very exciting that you, you are using your education and looking forward to, to using that to help.

Yes.

That's, that's really phenomenal.

So do you find that it's, that it's a lot of people your your age group that have come up to volunteer?

- Not normally.

You don't see people as young as me very often.

And normally it's just me and my brother and my sister.

The youngest ones always volunteering and then it's a lot of older people around us.

But I mean, sometimes I get a few friends to come and that's usually helpful.

But - Yeah, - For the most part it's just me and my brother and my sister.

- Why, why do you think it's so difficult for young people to, to volunteer these days?

What do you think's going on?

- I think a lot of it is they don't get anything in return.

So they volunteer for so long and then they don't feel that joy in which you should feel for helping people around you.

And also I think social media's kind of taken a play on it.

I mean, people just sit there and they scroll their phone all day and they, they might find volunteering a bit boring.

So it's just, but the reason I enjoy, it's just because I like helping people and helping the community that I've lived and grown up in my entire life.

- That that's fantastic.

We're very, very proud of you to hear that.

'cause that's something you, again, that we don't hear a lot from your age group and that's one of the reasons why we're doing the show is to try to get people inspired to volunteer.

And what do you think are some of the challenges that, that you face in volunteering?

Not just yourself but in general?

- In general volunteering.

I mean, some of the challenges you might see are like when you help someone, you might not feel it like immediately, but like, like when you see a little kid and you try to help 'em at a camp or something and you see them get happy and joyful because of that.

A lot of people don't find that as joyful as I find it to help people in that sense.

Like even in a business sense, we go out to people's house calls at night, in the middle of the night just to fix their heat.

And I, I feel like helping them makes me happy and that's why I like doing what we do for work as well.

- Well your grandfather would be very, very proud to hear that, I'm sure.

'cause obviously that's been inspired by your family in that legacy.

Now do you under, do you manage to, when you do volunteer, you, you talked about bringing in friends your own age.

Do you, do you have some, some advice as to how to get other people your age involved in volunteering?

- Some advice would be you gotta just have a good group of friends, in my opinion.

I have, I've had a really good group of friends my entire life and I've grown up with 'em.

And honestly I wouldn't trade any of the experiences that I've had for the world with them.

And no matter what I do or anything I need help with anything or if they need help with anything, they're always there for me and I'm always there for them.

So my advice would be to choose the right friend group and choose people who like you and for you and not just for people who like you 'cause you're popular or anything like that.

Yeah, - That is a very, very wise advice.

And now we, we had just talked about how much fun it is for you to see the look of joy on the kids' faces your face lit up when we said that, and we've had other interviews on this show where we've talked where people have talked about experiences that they've had that have shaped their lives.

And it's so exciting because you never know exactly how you're gonna influence a child, but what a wonderful thing to think about that that child might grow up and remember your kindness and remember sparking joy in them.

And I imagine that that's, that could be an ignition to any kind of service because you're helping somebody, you're helping somebody bring that joy.

So I'm very sure that those kids are gonna remember you honestly.

That's, that is so fantastic.

So do you have a favorite story from all the times that you volunteered at the Irish festival or at the camps?

Do, do you have a specific story about something that really, really meant a lot to you?

- One that stuck out is there was, so last week at the camp, there was a group of younger girls, probably age 10, and they like grew really close friends with me and this other girl who were their like kind of camp counselors who were like part of their group the whole time.

And they, they like brought me friendship bracelets.

They were like really big fans of me.

Oh.

And so like, they would call me, I always wear Lululemon normally and they would call me Lululemon to everyone and it was, it was really funny in my opinion.

- So Oh that's sweet.

That's, - That was, that's one of the most recent ones that stick out to me.

But I probably could go on all day.

- Well you could go on all day.

Absolutely.

We love to hear those kinds of stories because, so that must really enrich your life.

You talked about it bringing you joy and happiness and fulfillment and of course that's gonna just keep going on as you continue to volunteer.

And so what have you learned from your volunteering experience?

- I've learned that money isn't everything that if to live a fulfillable life is to have, bring joy to yourself and to live for you, not for the money and the people around you.

- Very, very wise answer.

And that's such an inspiring thing to hear at such a young age and listen to me talking about young age here.

So it's just so wonderful because again, our, our average volunteer that we have is generally as you said, older.

So it's so exciting to see a younger person in the new generation coming up to this.

What motivates you to help, I know we've talked about it sparking joy and you have this, you know, it's moving forward in your education, but is there any other sense, any other feeling that you have that really helps push you through these?

- Probably my family.

That would be the biggest role is my family loves to do it.

So it's kind of like bonding with my family at the same time and creating new friendships like that.

- That's amazing.

What would you say to somebody to inspire them to volunteer?

- I would say that you gotta find which volunteering area that you would like to be a part of because sometimes cooking food isn't for everyone.

- Yeah.

- So you gotta do what you can to help, but you gotta find what you like to do.

Like, if you like sports, you should go to a, a sports camp.

If you like to cook, you should help someone by cooking food.

If you like to do finances, you should do the financial part.

Like, there's so many ways to help, but if you enjoy doing it, it's gonna be easier to help the people around you than if you don't like to do it.

- Has volunteering influenced your idea of success in life?

- Yes.

How so?

I, I feel like success is money of course.

Like you wanna be successful in that sense, but I feel like I also wanna be successful with like the people around me.

I want them to, I want the community to feel like I've succeeded as well.

Not just money-wise, but in helping them and helping the people in this community because I did grow up here and it is an amazing community in my opinion.

And the reason I do what I do is for the people here because I love this place so much and I, that's the reason I'll never move away.

It's the reason I always stay here and the community just means everything to me and that's why I try to do what I do.

- Absolutely.

Fantastic.

Now do you have any information as to how people can reach out and volunteer either at the Irish festival or at sports camps or anything like that?

- The Irish Festival every year usually has flyers for volunteering and stuff.

My mom runs all the volunteers for the, for the Irish Festival.

- Okay.

- And then for the parish, just ask anyone everywhere.

Ask anyone they, there's always places to help in my opinion.

- Okay.

Fantastic.

Well Jack, thank you so much.

We are so, so proud that we have a young person in this community that is so willing to not only stay in our community, but work to lift it up.

And that's wonderful.

Thank you so much for being with us, Jack.

We really appreciate it.

Thank you for having me.

Thanks for joining us today.

It's a reminder that bears repeating.

No one achieves anything alone.

The world needs a helping hand.

The world needs you go out and make a difference.