GRATEFUL FOR DLE VOLUNTEERS MAKING A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Through DLE community outreach, our members can seize the rewards of volunteering while making a difference for the communities where we live.

That was the case on Nov. 6, when DLE volunteers teamed up with board members of Berkshire-based Construct Inc. to fill an entire dumpster with debris in readying a once abandoned house in Beckett (MA) to become a home for a family facing housing insecurity.

“This was an amazing opportunity to showcase what the DLE community is all about,” affirms volunteer Marie Meak, Manufacturing Technician II at AbbVie. “Taking the time to give back was a very fun and rewarding experience. These DLE community projects are an opportunity to recharge on the weekend before going into the workweek. Always a pleasure meeting new people, and I look forward to the next volunteer event!”

Joining Marie on the brisk Berkshire morning were fellow volunteers Michelle Lopez, Julia Kirst, Michelle Decepida, Elizabeth Gates and Linda Dulye. The team filled a dumpster with debris of all sizes and varieties on the nearly three-acre property.

Brenda Petell, Director of Volunteer Engagement at the Berkshire United Way, paired up the DLE with June Wolfe, Construct Inc.‘s Housing Director, and Board Member Betty Farbman to help advance the organization’s mission of fighting homelessness and providing affordable housing.

“We hope to get the house ready for the market in short order, and we literally could not have made it work without your team’s energy, commitment and good old elbow grease!” assures Betty. “A huge thank you to the Dulye Leadership Experience team for your work on this project.”

The Construct project was especially meaningful for Advisory Board Member Michelle Lopez. “Helping Construct prepare a home for a family was deeply rewarding. I felt that my volunteering was impacting something that was going to last for someone’s lifetime. I’m so grateful to have played a small part in helping to provide affordable housing for a family,” she notes. “I’d recommend this type of project to everyone!”

The DLE’s commitment to community outreach is rock solid and growing to include quarterly volunteer projects in 2022, affirms DLE Founder Linda Dulye. “We will be guided in project selections by Brenda at the United Way, who in her role of Director of Volunteer Engagement is connected with Berkshire-based organizations in need of helping hands.”

Julia Kirst, a frequent volunteer in DLE community outreach, shares, “There is nothing like getting away from the computer and meeting the day with work gloves and sweat. To know that we were helping make a difference in housing equity was just the icing on the cake! Thank you, DLE, for this opportunity to contribute.”

Sums up Brenda, “What a rewarding volunteer project—seeing the team from DLE helping Construct. Your team was fabulous and so is your community leadership.”

DLE volunteers spent several hours clearing debris on the nearly three-acre property.

Volunteers (left to right) Michelle Lopez, Linda Dulye and Michelle Decepida fill a wheelbarrow with roofing debris.

Volunteers Marie Meak (left) and Julia Kirst are hard at work.