THE VOICE OF THE C -OP VOLUNTEERS

APRIL 2011 | VOLUME 2, ISSUE 9

A Publication from the Michigan Congress Task Force on Volunteerism & Diversity

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Words From Around the World Rev. Josiah Henson, An American Slave

Postcard From Swaziland Well, things are rolling here for us and I’ll try to convey the exciting things that are happening. First of all, I was not mentally preparing myself to be a librarian or a teacher, but that’s what I’m Doing. My first formal shot at making the link to the youth was through two Jun-ior Achievement classes on two Saturdays in February at a rural high school outside of Nhlangano. There were moments of stone cold si-lence from the kids followed by noisy high fives when I went from try-ing to be a traditional teacher to someone who got the kids in-volved in their own education. Our weather is slowly transitioning to winter. Thunderstorms have put on glorious electrical displays, a recent one lasting for over two hours. The birds have long since fledged and most have moved on to the north. We haven’t seen our good friend the steppe buz-zard lately. The fall foliage colors are in the browning savannah grass. There are still garden tomatoes and basil to be picked, and time to plant lettuce. -Submitted by: Fred Wood, former CSI GM, current Peace Corps Volunteer

The South African national flower, King Protea, with South Africa in the distance.

Rev. Josiah Henson was an American slave who lived in the south. By way of the “Underground Railroad” and Harriet Beecher Stowe, a white woman from the north, he was fortunate enough to escape to the Second Baptist Church in Detroit. The church was a headquarters for the slaves who escaped from the south. Rv. Henson, through the help of Ms. Stowe, settled in Dresden, Ontario, where he built his home and a church. Ms. Stowe later wrote his life story which you may know; “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Rev. Henson was a very proud man amongst his new Canadian families who always welcomed African American slaves with open arms. When I was in college, I had an opportunity to visit the museum on a field trip through my “African American” history class. I was in a state of shock when I saw the original flyers advertising the auction of black families, especially men, by describing their body parts, teeth and the starting price. At the museum there were also the items that were used to force feed the men. They used bridles (used for horses) to open their mouth and feed them. There were pictures of slaves hanging from trees whose fingers and toes were amputated while they were still alive. This is a very touching real life awakening that opens our eyes and hearts. I am so thankful that we all equal in 2011 especially at CSI Support & Development senior housing. If you get a chance, visit this museum and his home in Dresden, Ontario. -Submitted by: Ada Jones, Dearborn Heights Co-op 

Señora Rouse Barton Towers 

Joan Hansen Royal Oak Manor 

Joan Hansen, Royal Oak Manor Co-op Joan is a woman who wears many hats. An 18 year resident of Royal Oak Manor, she is a very valuable volunteer. Joan is our boutique chair, our vice president as well as chair of commodities, Focus Hope and countless other things. Joan would not be able to do the many things she does without the great support from her volunteer workers. Keep up the wonderful work Joan!

-Submitted by Mable Sudderth, Royal Oak Manor Co-op

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VOLUNTEERS OF THE MONTH

Señora Rouse, Barton Towers Co-op

Everyone here at Barton Towers knows Señora Rouse, and why, do you ask? Well, for the last year and a half she has not missed a day taking care of the coffee machine. She is always happy, cheerful and ready to volunteer! That is our “Coffee Lady”. Thank You Señora for all you do!

-Submitted by Krste Stefanovski, Barton Towers Co-op

WHO’S ON THE BOARD? -Betty Harris-

I became a member of Dearborn Heights Co-op in 1999.

Before I became a member of the Co-op I was accepted as a volunteer for AARP with the Leadership committee. I am presently active with the Outreach committee, Red-Cross, Salvation Army with the Disaster committee, RSVP as a reading tutor for third grade students, Adult Well Being as a tax aid for home heating Credit and others.

Since becoming a member of the Co-op I have held the positions as secretary, chairperson for the election committee, by-law committee, floor representative, congress delegate and presently leasing chairperson and board member for the past three years. I have kept busy by being able to help where ever I am needed and I would not have it any other way. Being a board of directors member has been the most satisfying volunteer position.

You may remember me as the person trying to lead the Co-op song after a meeting, sometimes in tune, sometimes not, but always in good fun.

Board Member Betty Harris

St. Patricks Day Dinner On March 17th everyone was Irish at Barton Towers. We had a wonderful dinner with corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, Irish soda bread, cake, lime sherbet, and beverages. There were well over 80 people who at-tended and I wanted to say thank you to all of the volunteers for the job well done who made it run very smoothly. There were volunteers who sold tickets, set up decorations, printed material, servers, cooks, clean up crew etc. Thanks to:

Red Bertelone, Carol Bondy, Adrienne Boni, Anatoliy Braginskiy, Brian Cenci, Mil-dred Clees, Jacqueline Cook, Joan Corner, Mary Crawford, Michael Cronovich, John Ellison, Hilda Fischer, Oda,Fisher, Arlene Fraser, Joan Fraus, Madge Gun-der, Pat Hanson, Shirley Hislop, Mary Kaplan, Dora Kerstein, Stepanka Prunker, Roberts Mary, Mary Reyes, Señora Rouse, Leonid Shapiro, Noreen Smith, Mary Tressler, Shirley Palugyay, Virginia Vagnetti, Carmella Wells and liaison Mark Smith on the piano.

Thank you to all the volunteers and participants for a job well done. -Submitted by: Krste Stefanovski, Barton Towers Co-op

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What’s Happening in Your Co-op

Black History Program The Black history program was held on February 26th at Meyers Plaza Co-op. There were sixty people in attendance. The President, Zenobia Tillison, started with our motto, “We honor our past, present and future.” From the beginning of religious expression among slaves preaching on the part of the leader was impor-tant. This preaching consisted of sing-ing sacred songs which have come to be known as the Spirituals. These songs are commonly known as negro spirituals, jubilees, folk songs, shout songs, sorry songs and slave melo-dies. You may know some of these songs like Wade in Water Children, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, and many more. Sorry melodies were one of the only ways they could express their suffering and they were for the most part handed down from generation to gen-eration. After the program, a delicious dinner was served.

-Submitted by: Virginia Sorrell, Meyers Plaza Co-op 

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WORLD COUNTRIES BEGINNING WITH U, V, W, Y, Z

Uganda Ukraine

United Kingdom United States

Uruguay Uzbekistan

Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Vietnam Wales

Western Sahara Yemen Zaire

Zambia Zimbabwe

Word Search Submitted by

Annie Mitchell, NH

SUDOKU TIME! It's easy to play Sudoku! Simply fill every

column, row and 3 x 3 box so they contain every number between 1 and 9.

Don't go too fast! The game is easy to play but difficult to master!

Puzzle from websudoku.com

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A Publication from the Michigan Congress Task Force on Volunteerism & Diversity

See if you can spot the

co-op logo!!

It looks like this

but will be much smaller and is hidden

somewhere in the newsletter.

COME AND JOIN US

All co-op members are welcome to join * * *

Dearborn Heights invites everyone to play cards every Wednesday at 6pm. If you are interested, please call

Edith Simms at 313-274-1554.

New Years Resolutions Come True! Join Dearborn Heights and exercise Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday’s from 10-10:45am.

Barton Towers and Chef Krste welcome all to enjoy a

complete dinner for $4.50 every other Thursday at 5pm.

Also at Barton Towers, on the other Thursdays there’s Bingo Supper at 4:30pm. This includes hot dogs, chili, sloppy joe’s, taco’s, homemade cake, drinks and chips. It’s an a la carte

dinner and prices range from .25 cents to $1.50 per item.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE WITH THE TASK FORCE ON VOLUNTEERISM & DIVERSITY? Please submit a story for our next issue by faxing (586-753-9022) or emailing it to Lickel Wood at lickel.wood@csi.coop

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR CO-OP?

All co-op volunteers are welcome to submit a short story about any volunteer related news from their co-op, such as volunteer appreciation celebrations, the success of any particular committee, etc.

VOLUNTEER OF THE MONTH

Members are welcome to submit a write-up and a picture of a special co-op volunteer. The write-up should include why you consider this person the volunteer of the month. If we receive more than one write-up, we will vote on the ones we consider the best. So, if your volunteer didn’t get published in that particular issue, don’t give up.

COME AND JOIN US Invite all co-op members to events you might be having at your co-op, such as open houses, breakfasts, bazaars, etc.

Come and Join us on the Task Force! Together We Stand, Divided We Fall!