News
Voluntary servitude
For 11 Arizonans, volunteering becomes their life’s work
August 8, 2008
Community giving & Volunteers Aug 2008
By Debra Utacia Krol, Arizona Capitol Times correspondent
Some of Arizona’s most productive workers receive no financial rewards for their efforts.
The sense of making a difference in their communities more than compensates volunteers for their work.
Here’s a salute to a few of the unsung heroes of Arizona — volunteers who expend time, money and energy to build communities, provide health care and help families in need.
Vernon Bagley
Project We Remember
One evening, Vernon Bagley, CEO of a real estate investment firm saw something disturbing on television. “I saw some veterans being harassed by kids at a college,” says Bagley, a decorated Vietnam War veteran.
So Bagley decided to do something.
He wanted to give back to veterans and their families and to “fill in the holes” in services for them. He did more than just volunteer — he started his own nonprofit.
Project We Remember (PWR), which is paid for by the Military Families Foundation, Inc., raises money for individuals and other nonprofits that assist military families by filling needs that go beyond what they can access through their service branch. Some of the projects PWR pays for are scholarships for surviving spouses and children of military personnel killed in action or training; aiding military families to purchase a home; and providing happier holidays for cash-strapped National Guard families.
Bagley’s organization has raised enough money to open its first short-term housing unit for families who live more than 50 miles from the Phoenix V.A. Hospital. “Every month in Arizona there are at least 60 families who live more than 50 miles away from V.A. hospitals in Phoenix and Tucson who want to visit their loved one, have no place to stay and receive no financial support to visit their wounded or ill family member,” Bagley wrote in a statement. He even hired a car and driver to bring veterans back and forth from Globe to Phoenix.
Bagley notes that PWR takes no position for or against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but does support the troops. Because of this, he has garnered support from both sides of the aisle in the Legislature. And he only accepts private donations in order to keep PWR flexible to meet the needs of service members and families.
Billie Jane Baguley
Billie Jane Baguley Library & Archives, Heard Museum
One of two volunteers with 30-plus years of service on their record, Billie Jane Baguley’s journey to having a research library named for her took a rather circuitous route.
Baguley, 88, married an Englishman and moved to Oxford, where she was barred from working due to tax laws. So she began volunteering instead.
In 1978, Baguley and her husband, Peter, retired to Phoenix, where he quickly became a guide at the Heard Museum. A member of Britain’s Conservative Party, Peter was “not afraid to talk to people,” says Baguley.
However, Billie Jane, an English teacher, opted for a quieter volunteer opportunity. “I wanted to do something, so I started volunteering in the library,” she says.
Over the next 30 years, the small library, which was once housed in a balcony, grew to include one of the Southwest’s largest collections of papers, photos, books and visual media on American Indian tribes. Baguley’s library acumen grew along with the archival materials.
“I learned quite a bit about library science,” she says. “I’m good on the history of the library because I’m the one who was there the longest. We grew together.”
Mario Nick Klimiades, the library’s director who has worked with Baguley for more than 20 years, is a big fan of the diminutive lady. “Billie Jane Baguley epitomizes the spirit of volunteerism and community,” says Klimiades. “When the opportunity arose during the last expansion to rename the library, it seemed only natural to rename it after Billie Jane.”
Health concerns prevent Baguley from coming to the library every day like she used to. But she is still part of the advisory group.
As Klimiades points out, “The Heard Museum has one of the finest museum libraries in the Southwest because of supporters like Billie Jane who have provided decades of service.”
Engineers Without Borders
When he’s not working for Rose Law Group, municipal planner Nick Labadie spends his spare time building critical infrastructure in Central America.
Labadie is a co-founder of the Phoenix professional chapter of Engineers Without Borders, a nonprofit humanitarian organization established to partner with developing communities worldwide in order to improve their quality of life. The organization has more than 200 developing and established chapters working on more than 170 projects in 41 countries.
Labadie’s project is typical for the organization: He’s part of a team of seven that is rebuilding a sewage treatment facility in Marcala, Honduras. When complete, the plant will help protect Marcala’s 15,000 residents from water-borne diseases. The old system failed, causing untreated waste water to be dumped in the nearby river, which is a primary water source for the area. The project began in 2007.
Labadie says making the commitment of a few hours a month to “many hours a week” on this and other projects isn’t easy; however, he notes “working with motivated individuals from across the industry, all while helping to make the world a better place, can connect you with new people, companies, and opportunities and be both life-changing and affirming.”
In a June 2008 article, Labadie sums up his philosophy: “We are all familiar with the fundraising efforts of charitable organizations; we’ve attended the events, made the donations, and pledged money to the 5K walker, but making the time to participate and get active in an organization like EWB is truly ‘teaching the world to fish.’
Joan Bald
Sue Rhodes
Lymphoma Research Foundation
Sue Rhodes’ motivation to advance the search for a cure for lymphoma, a group of cancers that attack the body’s lymphatic system, is personal: In 2002, she was diagnosed with one of the more than 30 forms of the disease. Rhodes found a way to help through the local chapter of the Lymphoma Research Foundation (LRF).
Joan Bald founded LRF’s Arizona chapter in 2003 after recognizing a need for awareness, education and support for lymphoma patients and their families in Arizona. Through her motivation and strong leadership, she built the chapter from the ground up to become a unit with more than 400 members across the Southwest.
She guided a fundraising effort that garnered more than $250,000 for lymphoma research and programming. Bald also tirelessly advocated for the needs of patients, survivors and loved ones in the state-education programs during her three years as chapter president. Bald also paved the way for her successor, Rhodes, who assumed the role of chapter president in May.
After attending an LRF educational workshop, Rhodes joined up. “I was so impressed with the information and the quality of the program — it made me want to see what I could do,” says Rhodes. “I feel very fortunate to be in remission for 5-plus years.”
Rhodes continues her mission to find a cure for lymphoma. She’s currently gearing up for World Lymphoma Awareness Day on Sept. 15, in partnership with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“I want to create community awareness and have better outreach to the cancer hospitals so when patients are diagnosed with lymphoma, they know about the support services LRF offers and that we’re here for them,” says Rhodes. “And, obviously, we have to raise money.”
Rhodes’s hard work has enabled the chapter to reach out to communities in Phoenix, Sedona, Flagstaff and Tucson. And both Bald and Rhodes have worked to increase funding for the chapter, so much so that they were able to hire an executive director last year.
Joe Garagiola Sr.
St. Peter’s Indian Mission School
The retired Major League Hall of Fame catcher and longtime Arizona Diamondbacks announcer and analyst, Joe Garagiola Sr. is known for his quips. “Awesome Fox” is the name Garagiola, 82, is known by at a private Catholic school in the Gila River Indian Community, where his work has resulted in many improvements of both the school and children’s lives.
About 14 years ago, Garagiola encountered Sister Martha Mary Carpenter, the principal of St. Peter’s Indian Mission School in Bapchule, about 10 miles south of Chandler. “Sister Martha was speaking at our church,” Garagiola recalls. “She told it like it was.”
Garagiola drove down to the school the next week, bearing baseball equipment that he always carried with him for donations. “I gave her the equipment and toured the grounds. I asked her what her number one priority was (for the school).”
He said Sister Martha looked around the dilapidated campus and didn’t hesitate with her answer: “A basketball court.”
“Why?” asked Garagiola. “It was because she said that the kids would have a place to play besides just running around third base.” And a partnership was born.
Garagiola started leaning on his friends, including developers, business owners and other Valley people for donations of labor, time and money to help the struggling private school which he nicknamed the “Lady of Quicksand,” because “once you get in, you never get out!”
Over the years, Garagiola has cajoled donations for new restrooms, a basketball court, a baseball field, a new van to replace the old one, a library and several other items. “Sister Martha tells me what she needs and I get it for her,” Garagiola says.
Before scoring a trailer and driver to haul donated items down to Bapchule, Garagiola would load his Mercedes — literally to the top of the passenger cabin — with stuff. He’s been stopped by DPS officers three times, he says. “One time, I was hauling linens down when I got stopped on I-10 for not being able to see out my mirrors,” he says. “The DPS officer gave me an escort to the Sacaton turnoff.”
Despite winning many volunteer awards over the years, Garagiola remains characteristically modest. “God put things in front of us to do good,” he says. “The kids down there say this prayer; ‘Lord, teach me to know that every day, down every street gives us a chance to be God’s hands and God’s feet.’”
Garagiola seems to have taken this simple prayer to heart.
Kris Kollasch
Free Arts of Arizona
Kris Kollasch, a Phoenix painter, sculptor, and public artist, first became involved with Free Arts of Arizona 12 years ago when she met its executive director, Stephanie Small, at an art gathering.
“We began talking about what Free Arts does, that they bring the healing power of the creative arts to abused and homeless kids,” Kollasch says.
The organization trains volunteers to bring art to children living in group homes and shelters in order to give them a “healthy way” to work through the challenges and often frightening experiences of homelessness, abuse and neglect.
“I knew how critical artistic expression had been to surviving my own personal challenges, so I signed up to get involved right away,” Kollasch says.
Since then, Kollasch has mentored many young people. She’s served as a camp counselor and art instructor.
“I have seen kids go from being shy and unsure to being confident and able to speak their own truth in front of an audience of 300 in just a matter of weeks,” she says.
Kollasch is paid back by watching traumatized kids “really take flight.” Kollasch also serves on Free Arts’ board, a position she’s held for the past five years.
“I volunteer because I want to give back for all I have received, I want to pay it forward for the times I may not have all I need, and primarily because of the laughter and smiles of the kids as they are painting and singing and showing off the masterpieces they have made,” she says.
Sam Marascalco, DDS
Nick Mooberry, DDS
Phil Mooberry, DDS
St. Elizabeth’s Clinic
During the past 20 years, three Tucson dentists have made a huge difference in the community by donating thousands of hours of time and raising money for the Community Services of Southern Arizona’s St. Elizabeth’s Clinic.
Known as “St. E’s”, the clinic provides low-cost dental care to thousands of uninsured adults and children. Last year, St. E’s volunteer dentists conducted 7,313 visits with patients, completing fillings, dentures, partials, cleanings and emergency exams. Nationwide, more than 108 million people lack dental insurance, and the percentage is even higher in Tucson, where three times as many people lack dental insurance as do health insurance, according to the U.S. Surgeon General.
Sam Marascalco, his son-in-law Nick Mooberry and grandson Phil Mooberry treat between 12 and 15 patients each month at St. E’s clinic, which provides services on a low-cost or sliding-fee scale. They also bring patients with more complex cases to their offices for advanced treatments. The family also spearheads a golf tournament, which raises more than $60,000 annually for St. E’s clinic. And Nick Mooberry continues to work to recruit more professionals for the clinic.
For these efforts, the three dentists were honored with Catholic Charities USA’s 2007 Volunteers of the Year Award. “We are so pleased that Catholic Charities USA has selected Dr. Sam Marascalco and Drs. Phil and Nick Mooberry to be recognized with its National Volunteer of the Year Award,” said Peg Harmon, CEO of Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona. “CCS has been triply blessed by this family’s involvement and commitment to St. Elizabeth’s Clinic. We congratulate and thank them along with all of the volunteers who give so generously of themselves and make our work possible.”
Lyle Wright
Peoria High School
People who believe Arizona’s agricultural heritage is fading away haven’t been to Peoria lately. Peoria High School’s agricultural department is going strong, and Lyle Wright is one big reason for that.
Wright, 71, has volunteered at Peoria High since 1978, and the former construction worker has been a daily fixture there since 1986. He works every day in the agricultural department, helping students as well as assist teachers in planning field trips.
“My kids went there, and I needed something to do after I had a heart attack and went on disability,” Wright says.
Wright also coaches the school’s meat-evaluation team, and he schedules practices during the morning — as early as 6 a.m. — or at night to fit the students’ schedules. The team has won many state titles in the meat-evaluation competition.
“You’d be surprised how much of an animal is used,” says Wright. “(Parts of slaughtered animals are) used for everything from insulin to film. They use it all.”
For his hard work, Wright was made an honorary member of the state and national chapters of the Future Farmers of America. He received an Honorary American FFA degree at the national level. In 2002, he earned the Service Support award from SkillsUSA. The Agriculture Building at Peoria High School is named and dedicated for Wright, who helped design the building.
“I enjoy working with the kids,” says Wright. “I really like helping students who aren’t doing well turn themselves around and do well.
“I just enjoy the kids.”
