Everything we do is made possible because of our amazing volunteers. We will be highlighting more of those great individuals throughout the year in our Volunteer Spotlight. For more information on this program, click here.
April Volunteer Spotlight-JonMichael Evelyn-Veere
JonMichae
l started volunteering with WFI in November of 2010. He had already graduated high school, but a few of his friends were still in school and told him about this cool/fun volunteer project called Wrapping for Inclusion. Since JonMichael had a lot of free time during his first year of college, he felt that it would be good to utilize that time doing something good for the community. The second reason JonMichael volunteered for WFI is because he knew it helped children with disabilities through inclusive activities and he felt that was truly important. His brother, Joshua, has a disability as well. Joshua was born with a rare genetic disorder called Angleman syndrome, which is similar to Down syndrome, but is of a different chromosome.
One of the things JonMichael likes most about volunteering with WFI is the people he gets to meet and experienceing the generosity of people with whom he comes in contact with throughout the season. JonMichael thinks that way too often people turn on the T.V. and see all the horrible things in the world and forget that there are good people and deeds being done on a daily basis. And, according to JonMichael, WFI really brings out the best in the volunteers and its generous donors.
JonMichael feels it was truly an honor to have had the opportunity to run his own wrapping station and to know that Leslie Grimes, Wrapping Coordinator in California, got to be home resting with her family and new grandchild. He noted that it was a tiring, difficult, but amazing experience and he was so glad to have done it.
Pictured with JonMichael is Catherine Eng (volunteer) and Leslie Grimes.
The National Inclusion Project would like to thank JonMichael for his dedication to our Wrapping for Inclusion project!