The rewards of volunteering are legion but one in particular is connecting with your fellow volunteers over pizza. On July 24, 13 volunteers from the Orinda Historical Society, from their teens to their eighties, gathered at Village Pizza for what will hopefully become an annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. (L-R) Mary de Luna, Ida Schultz, Phoebe Schultz, Miles Ferguson, Teresa Long, Kathy Barrett, Karen Holm, Nancy Royster, Patrick Burns, Vivian Ricci, Kay Norman, Cheryl Cechvala and Kent Long. Teens absent from the lunch are Kathryn Nguyen, Sammy Damonte, Ian Kim, Daniel Litwin, Tatiana Romero and Will Leibowitz.
Somewhere online there exists a very old video clip of the future King William V of Great Britain during his gap year in Chile, decked out in yellow rubber gloves, and kneeling on all fours as he scrubs around a disgustingly dirty toilet in Patagonia.
Buckingham Palace, apparently, is “desperate” to suppress that particular video of the erstwhile 18-year-old blonde mop-top, but it does prove that teen volunteerism cuts across all social strata.
According to Junior Achievement USA, the impact of voluntary work on a student’s future career is ‘’one of its most valuable benefits.” And, while William has a guaranteed job ahead of him, there are still plenty of other employers seeking “well-rounded individuals with a demonstrated commitment to giving back to society and the ability to handle responsibility.”
In other words, those who happily take on voluntary work while juggling exams, academia and sporting commitments are destined to shine brightly on the job-seeking radar. Perhaps it seems counter-productive to add one more demand to an already overstretched agenda, but focusing on a worthwhile activity like volunteering often recharges one’s batteries.
For the past few years, the Orinda Historical Society (OHS) has been running a very successful teen volunteer program. But it’s not just teens — eighth grader Ida Schultz has been helping out since she was in third grade. As OHS Secretary Vivian Ricci is quick to point out, “Ida’s our youngest volunteer, yet makes a huge contribution.” Likewise, her sophomore sister, Phoebe, became an indispensable part of OHS as soon as the pandemic lockdowns were lifted in 2021.
In the early days, the sisters would each make their way to the Museum after school to wait for their mother, OHS Vice-President Cheryl Cechvala, but rather than just sit around, soon threw themselves into lending a hand.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” said Ricci, as Cechvala’s two daughters take on ever more complex projects.
Last September, it was standing room only when OHS opened up its modest little museum during the City’s All-Orinda Reunion. Word soon went out that the one-room facility was rapidly turning into “party city.”
As more alumni squeezed in, Cechvala and her daughters set up a recording studio in the room next door, tirelessly logging fascinating oral histories ranging from medals to murders, all destined to add to the many others online.
It is mainly thanks to OHS Board Members Ricci and Teresa Long that the teen volunteer program has grown so rapidly.
“At OHS,” Long explained, “we find out what a volunteer likes to do and aim to fit tasks to suit their interests. We’ve been fortunate to have motivated and happy volunteers – and that’s our goal. Scanning old newspapers, photos and documents lets volunteers learn about Orinda history while helping OHS organize and catalog the archives. The fun is when a surprising Orinda fact pops-up, triggering an astonished ‘I didn’t know that’ response.”
These teens aren’t just stuffing envelopes: they’re doing archival work, cataloging artifacts using professional museum software and helping staff during Saturday opening hours. It’s a win-win situation that works well, because the teens, in their turn, are patiently teaching their adult mentors the finer points of social media.
In this regard, volunteer Daniel Litwin made a huge contribution to OHS when he helped launch its Instagram program before leaving for Berlin to study abroad. Back in Orinda now, the recent graduate said he’d love to get back into volunteering with OHS “while I figure out my next steps.”
Like so many Miramonte high-schoolers, 10th grader Ian Kim has limited availability outside of school, but between acing competitions in both singing and water polo, helping with the homeless and acting as Den Chief with Boy Scouts of America, he has found time to discover how welcoming the OHS Board can be, and admires “how dedicated they are to preserving history and making that resource available to all.”
Teenager Tatiana Romero was another highly appreciated volunteer – not only thanks to her technical skills, but also because, as other volunteers remember, she was “a great baker who came in with treats when she did her volunteer work.”
As well as their work with teens, OHS runs a very successful Schools Program for Elementary students.
Each session begins in the museum with a talk from Schools Coordinator Laurie Smith before she leads them on a historical downtown walk to the 19th century de Laveaga train station.
Miramonte student Kathryn Nguyen enjoyed the experience so much that, years later, she wrote on her OHS volunteer application form, “I went on a field trip in fourth grade that made me appreciate the history of Orinda, and would love to help make this a possibility for others.”
Other volunteers have different reasons for working with OHS.
Last year, California High School student Sammy Damonte traveled in from San Ramon every week as part of her work-study class. By the time her academic obligation was over, she found herself so bitten by the history bug that she asked to continue as a volunteer.
Another teenager passionate about local history is Miramonte sophomore Miles Ferguson. Every Saturday for the last 12 months, he has turned up, reliable as clockwork, sporting a rather rakish straw boater.
“I really love to learn about local history, and how it connects to the wider world’s history,” he said, as he sorts through vintage OHS photos from different eras, comparing the changes to contemporary Orinda.
Like all the teen volunteers, Ferguson can happily be left alone to work on whatever best suits his diverse talents, and said that it’s thanks to mentors like Ricci and Long that all the volunteers are so well-matched to their allotted tasks.
“Vivian has been a great help to me during my time at OHS,” he said. “She’s shown me how to operate the software that we use, and given me guidance on projects. I think she really is one of the cornerstones of the Historical Society.”
Elizabeth Stepaneck, writing in “Community Involvement,” maintained that volunteer work “activates parts of the brain associated with happiness” and “as students contribute to the well-being of others, they become part of a larger movement that works toward improving the community.”
Let’s hope that, as Prince William hangs up his soiled rubber gloves for the last time, and inches ever closer to the throne, he reaps the same rewards.
