Service Spotlights

Going "above and beyond" for an RFB&D institutional member earned Carol Fontenot, the member services assistant and office manager in RFB&D's Arizona Unit, a welcomed floral surprise.

Last year, right around the holidays, someone from the Phoenix, AZ, campus of Ottawa University called Carol seeking fast delivery of a textbook desperately needed by a student. "The student was really in need," Carol recalls. "I worked closely with Alise Spataro, member services supervisor at RFB&D headquarters in Princeton, to get the book to the school before class began."

Carol, a former RFB&D volunteer who had been on staff for only two months at the time, was aware that the university was grateful, but was surprised when its representative sent her a bouquet of beautiful flowers in recognition of her prompt assistance.

"I've been in customer service pretty much my whole life, and it's not often that people go out of their way to express appreciation," she says. "Honestly, this is really 'all in a days work' for us and for the member service representatives at RFB&D headquarters. But the recognition was super," she says.

June Wiley, Ottawa University's dean of instruction and the person who initially introduced the school to RFB&D's services, states, "RFB&D is invaluable to our school and to our students with print disabilities. The service we receive is always quick and courteous. As a former RFB&D volunteer myself, I'm pleased to know it's still a superior organization with great people."

Betsy O'Connell, executive director of RFB&D's Metropolitan Washington Unit, was pleasantly surprised when she received an unordered shipment of pens one day. She rightly suspected that RFB&D volunteer Bill Ritchie had arranged for the delivery. Bill, a recording volunteer in the evening program for 10 years, has showered the Washington Unit with other donations - from calendars and pens to office cabinets. In fact, Bill founded the much appreciated "cookie of the month club," an automatic shipment of fresh cookies for the enjoyment of evening volunteers.

"Bill's contributions boost volunteer morale tremendously. He is always thinking of RFB&D and comes up with creative ways to make everyone's day," Betsy says. "It gives him pleasure to make life more interesting to volunteers and staff alike."

Bill, a generous contributor to RFB&D himself, also helps with RFB&D's fundraising efforts. He recently underwrote costs of an advertisement in a neighborhood newspaper to promote the Unit's benefit sale days at Borders. He has also arranged for RFB&D to be the beneficiary of proceeds from the Georgetown Chorale's spring concerts - raising $19,000 - for two years in a row.

"One of the great motivating factors to me is that you are helping people who are really working hard to obtain an education. You really feel the work is appreciated," says Bill. "It is all worthwhile and rewarding, and I am glad to be of service to the Metropolitan Washington Unit and all of RFB&D's members."

Although separated by nearly a 30-year age gap, Annemarie Cooke, RFB&D's senior external relations officer, and RFB&D member Kristen Witucki are dear friends who share many of the same qualities. Both are intelligent, articulate and witty. Both are passionate about RFB&D. Both are blind. And both love to sing the praises of the other.

"Kristen has been amazing me since she was 13 years old," states Annemarie.

"Annemarie was the first blind adult I ever met," recalls Kristen. "The fact that she was so professional and confident gave me great hope for my own future."

The two were introduced in 1994, when Annemarie was searching for an accomplished young student who was blind and willing to testify before the Joint Budget and Appropriations Subcommittee of the New Jersey State Legislature on behalf of funding for RFB&D. Associates kept referring her to a young girl named Kristen from Pine Hill, NJ. It only took one phone call for her to discover why.

"Here was a seventh grader who was just so confident and poised," Annemarie recalls of their first conversation. "When I later took her to Trenton to testify, she just blew people away."

Since then, Kristen, a 2004 RFB&D Scholastic Achievement Award winner, has done much for RFB&D. Having testified for six years to the New Jersey Joint Budget and Appropriations Subcommittee, Kristen also helped RFB&D win a grant of $400,000 from Reader's Digest Partners for Sight Foundation. While still in junior high, she served as the youngest member of RFB&D's Consumer Advisory Council, and she has undertaken research, writing and public speaking on behalf of RFB&D. After graduating from Vassar College last year with a 3.58 grade point average and New York State certification to teach English, Kristen interned in RFB&D's marketing department this past summer. She now attends Columbia University's Teacher's College, where she is pursuing a master's degree in special education as a research fellow.

"Annemarie and RFB&D have provided me with wonderful growth experiences and networking opportunities," states Kristen. "I feel such a bond."

Annemarie helped Kristen learn about new products and technologies in the disability field by taking her to various conferences, and each laughs as they recall travel adventures. Last summer, Annemarie was proud to sit among close friends and family at Kristen's college graduation; and, this past September, Kristen attended Annemarie's wedding, a testament to the strong relationship the two have formed over
the years.

"One of the benefits of my job at RFB&D is that I meet some incredible people," states Annemarie. "I can honestly say I've learned as much from Kristen as she has from me."

After RFB&D's transition to digital recording equipment, RFB&D volunteer Jim Hulbert noticed the readers in RFB&D's Lois C. Klein Studio (Orland Park, IL) struggling with tight quarters. So, he immediately designed and built new work stations with updated features, such as pull out drawers for keyboards.

Jim, a retired Illinois Bell technician who also built an airplane in his garage, has gone out of his way to help RFB&D for the past 33 years. He has not only been a reader and generous supporter, but he has repeatedly traveled all over the state (sometimes driving over 200 miles!) to handle technical problems with telephones, faxes, recording equipment, studio furniture and other general maintenance issues.

Assistant Studio Director Shirley Watson says with a laugh, "Give Jim a piece of wood, and he'll build something amazing with it." Jim's other contributions to the unit have included carved reindeer and exquisitely hand-made clocks for its annual fundraiser. "RFB&D is really blessed to have him as a volunteer, donor and friend. He is generous, creative and considerate. He cares deeply about recording and our studio."

For Jim, the matter is simple. "RFB&D is a good outfit serving members who amaze me with their ambition and accomplishments. When I see a need for something to be done, I simply design a way to fix the problem. There is great satisfaction in it."

Volunteering for RFB&D recently became ultra-convenient for employees of the Charlottesville, VA, office of LexisNexis, a leading web-based research service and publisher. A $10,000 grant from the company's parent company, Reed Elsevier Group plc, is being used for the set up and operation of an employee-run, on-site RFB&D recording studio.

"Part of our mission is to promote literacy and give aid to disadvantaged young people, so this project was ideal," says Ed Gould, site lead for the LexisNexis Charlottesville location. "We wanted to find an activity that the majority of our employees could participate in, and this is a perfect partnership."

LexisNexis encourages its employees to do volunteer work and even provides them two paid days off per year to do so. The company and RFB&D have worked side by side on several past projects, and it is a regular RFB&D supporter. To introduce the on-site studio to employees, LexisNexis set a goal to record 10 textbooks with 1,000 volunteer hours in 120 days. According to Lisa Roberson, volunteer coordinator and production assistant at RFB&D's Regional Unit of the Virginias and Carolinas, local staff and volunteers have already trained close to 250 LexisNexis employees.

"Since LexisNexis is a renowned leader in legal, news and business information and applications, its employees are especially well-versed in many legal and technical subjects," says Morgan Roth, RFB&D vice president for strategic communications. "This extraordinary and thoughtful effort will help RFB&D meet our demand for textbooks in those areas."

RFB&D volunteer Rita Burns never recorded a single book for RFB&D, nor spent a single minute in any of our studios. Yet, Rita has donated more than 1,200 hours helping the development staff at RFB&D headquarters. As an added benefit, those hours translated to close to $20,000 in grants from her former employer, ExxonMobil.

Rita is part of ExxonMobil Foundation's Retiree Volunteer Program, which encourages Mobil retirees, spouses and dependent children to volunteer for worthwhile community service projects. Under the program terms, ExxonMobil Foundation awards $500 to a nonprofit for every 40 hours of time an eligible person donates in a calendar year.

"We all look forward to Thursdays, when Rita comes in," says JoAnn Rygiel, RFB&D's development director of direct response fundraising, who smiles as she describes how Rita leaves butterscotch candies for her officemates before leaving each week. "She's been doing this for eight years now, and she is so dedicated and caring. Her assistance with filing, mailing and typing duties saves RFB&D much time and money too - money that can be applied toward our services to members."

Having worked at, what was then, Mobil for 31 years, Rita retired in 1986 and makes it a point to volunteer for many worthwhile causes, including the AARP and a local NJ school, where she reads to 26 third graders. "RFB&D is a wonderful organization, and I talk about it all the time," she says. "It's the super people that keep me coming back. I have absolutely no plans to stop."