ENCOURAGING WORDS

Volunteer coordinator catches eye of Obama

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Mail-room personnel told Loretta Rozzi, “You need to get down here. You have a package from the White House.”

Rozzi, volunteer coordinator at Park Vista Retirement Center, hustled to the mail room and found that President Barrack Obama had sent her a proclamation declaring April 19-25 National Volunteer Week 2009.

The proclamation arrived Oct. 15 in response to a letter Rozzi wrote to the president in March asking him for some personal words of encouragement that she could read to Park Vista’s volunteers at the 2009 Volunteer Recognition Luncheon in April.

“I didn’t hear back and totally forgot about it,” said Rozzi.

“I was hoping for something more personal, but I was thrilled to get the proclamation. We were very excited,” she said of herself and the staff at Park Vista.

“It will give me something to talk about at next year’s luncheon.”

Rozzi, a Campbell resident and 1961 graduate of Campbell Memorial High School, already has plans to make copies of the proclamation, roll them like scrolls, and give one to each volunteer at the 2010 luncheon. Also, the proclamation will be framed and displayed at the center, she said.

Rozzi said she wrote to Obama because he advocated volunteering during his campaign.

“I told him who I was and where I worked and asked him for a few words of encouragement that I could read to the volunteers at the recognition luncheon,” she said.

In his proclamation, Obama says, in part: “Volunteering provides the opportunity to join and better a community. Every American who volunteers can become an integral part of a school, a hospital or a neighborhood. Those who give of their time also join our nation’s proud history of service and help preserve this tradition for generations ahead.”

The proclamation’s purpose was to declare the week of April 19-25, 2009, as National Volunteer Week and to encourage support for the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. It did not make any specific references to Park Vista.

Rozzi, who also works in the activities department at Park Vista, read her own words of encouragement to the volunteers at the 2009 luncheon:

“It won’t matter what my bank account was, the type of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove, but the world may be different because I was a volunteer.

“Wonderful volunteers like you are the key to our success. Our gratitude for your efforts is more than we can express. Always remember: One person can make a difference,” she said.

Park Vista has between 90 and 100 volunteers that come from the community; from Youngstown State University, where some professors require community service; and from Ursuline and Mooney high schools, which also require students to perform community service, she said.

Rozzi said she loves to cook and bake and incorporates those activities into her jobs at Park Vista.

She makes homemade Brier Hill-style pizza to sell at the center to raise money for the luncheon.

“When I first made the pizza, the residents asked me what it was. Now, they love it,” she said.

She and her husband, Donald, who go dancing as often as they can, have three children: Tina, Anthony and DonMichael Rozzi.

“I love my job,” said Rozzi, who has worked at Park Vista for 11 years this month.

“I feel volunteers are so important to our community. When you volunteer, you get more back than you give. It’s very rewarding to make a difference,” she said.

alcorn@vindy.com