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12/08/2016 03:00 PMIn a world full of over-packed schedules and tight budgets it may not always be easy to find the time to give back to the world around you. But as Mahatma Gandhi said, "The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
There are countless residents throughout the communities on the shoreline who use their personal time to make the world around them a better place by volunteering. Bill O'Brien, Judy Heiser, and Peter Loden are just three local residents who have found greater reward in what they give to the organizations locally, nationally, and globally. All three hope to inspire others to join them in giving back.
Bill O'Brien
Branford's Bill O'Brien has a knack for keeping busy.
"I try to spread myself between the town and the region," says O'Brien. "It sounds crazy when I talk about all the things I'm doing, but a lot are ongoing and you just keep going."
For more than four decades, O'Brien worked in the banking industry while raising two sons. Despite a busy schedule, he remembers going door-to-door for a March of Dimes campaign in the 1960s. Since then he has served on the Walter Camp Foundations for 43 years, worked on the New Haven Road Race committee since 1981, and served as president of the New Haven Chapter of the National Football Foundation that honors scholar-athletes since 1988.
O'Brien's volunteerism continued when he moved to Branford in 1969. In Branford, he served 27 years on the Board of Recreation, has been on the Economic Development Commission since the 1980s, is the chairman of the Memorial Day and Veterans Day parades, and has worked on the Branford Festival since 1989.
Over the years, O'Brien has been a chairman of many different organizations and initiatives, including the United Way of Branford and the United Way of New Haven, the Cosgrove Animal Shelter in Branford, and Hannah's Dream Park in New Haven.
"I've done a lot of fundraising," O'Brien says. "It's inspiring to do something that turns out to be successful."
O'Brien has always enjoyed sports and was the first commission of the Southern Connecticut Conference in 1994-'95, serving the SCC until 2005, the same year he retired from the bank. For many years, O'Brien also has had a passion for photography.
In recent years, he has combined his love of his grandchildren, sports, and photography as the official photographer for each of his grandsons' football teams in Madison and North Branford.
"Recently we were standing in a monsoon watching football and I was still taking pictures," says O'Brien, whose grandsons also play lacrosse and baseball. "I'm 76 years old so it gets a little tougher each year to do things you've done before, but if you pace yourself and take it one day at a time, you can get things done."
While O'Brien realizes that many people lead busy lives, he encourages everyone to find something to do to help their community.
"Whether it's coaching a team or serving your town government, it's important to do that," says O'Brien. "If you do something and it fulfills your objectives and is successful, it's rewarding. When you do something and it's appreciated, it is gratifying and it betters the community."
Peter Loden
No matter how busy people are, Peter Loden thinks "every American should be a volunteer." Loden – who has owned Walker Loden with locations in Madison, Essex, and New Haven for 27 years – has committed countless hours to many different agencies, both locally and globally.
"People are always amazed when I start talking about these different agencies," Loden says. "Everyone is in the same boat, everyone is trying to rush things along, they have family coming, deadlines to meet, or something unexpected comes along, but we need to sit back and realize we're all dealing with this, too, and there are others who are less fortunate."
In 2001, Loden began working with the non-profit Haitian Ministries for the Diocese of Norwich, Inc., traveling to Haiti many times since then. He has also rotated on and off the board throughout that time.
"If you can travel to a third-world country all the better," says Loden. "It gives you a base of what you have to be thankful for and the blessings we have in our country."
Loden has no lack of volunteer work stateside, either. His current focus is Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry and Clothing Closet in New Haven. In one week, the organization distributed 285 bags of groceries and processed 185 people at the clothes closet.
As a business owner, Loden tries to publicize the organizations he is passionate about. One of the items sold in his shop is furniture and while the store doesn't have a delivery service, Loden facilitates that in another way.
"If they can't get it to their house, I tell them, 'I have a station wagon, I'll get it there,' and there is no charge, but we ask that they make a contribution to a non-profit," says Loden, noting Loaves & Fishes receives about $3,000 annually in donations that way. "It's a sale for Walker Loden, a donation to Loaves & Fishes, and a tax write-off for the customers, who are are very generous."
Loden collects pots and pans, blankets, and housewares for Christian Community Action in New Haven. The organization helps those who have lost their home find a place to stay and outfits the apartment so they can reestablish themselves. Living in the Whitneyville section of Hamden, Loden is on the board of Mirror Visions Ensemble and as a business owner in Madison, he encourages residents to support the Madison Food Bank.
During one of his trips to Haiti, Loden met an art therapist, which led to volunteer work with Communities Healing Through Art. The organization sends art therapists all over the world to help people affected by natural disasters.
No matter what organization he is focusing on, the important thing to Loden is giving back to the community around him. While he has given back in countless ways over the years, he feels like he is the one being rewarded.
"I'm always amazed in working with people who might be down on their luck and what they give back to me," says Loden. "I look at their resilience and their dedication in doing what they have to do to move on in this world. Working down in Haiti, you can say they have basically nothing, but they have spirit and they're very joyful, very alive, very gracious."
Judy Heiser
When Judy Heiser was young, she remembers seeing her parents giving back to their community. She followed in their example and has volunteered in many capacities in Essex over the five decades she has lived in town.
"Children learn from their parents and we all learned you have to give back your community," says Heiser. "It important that people who are so busy running around doing whatever it might be for the families, one thing they should always remember is that being involved with non-profits and being a volunteer teaches your children to be better citizens."
When her two sons were small, she and many of the other young mothers volunteered in a number of ways throughout town, which not only helped make her town a better place, but helped her build relationships with others, as well. Her husband coached Little League.
"The first level of involvement is often centered around your kids," Heiser says. "Do the things that are age-appropriate for your children."
Years later, she opened her own business, finding it was important to give back as a business-owner as well. Heiser has been on the board of the Visiting Nurses of the Lower Valley for more than 35 years.
"Years ago my mother said, 'Pick one non-profit and really stick with it,' and I have," says Heiser. "I've enjoyed my time there immensely."
Ever since retiring, Heiser has worked for the Essex Board of Trade. She has also been involved with Friends In Service Here, which provides medical transportation to those in need in Essex, Deep River, and Chester, as well as the Trees in the Rigging boat parade, and the Essex Historical Society, most recently working the vintage baseball program.
"Volunteering is not that I do something because I need to be recognized for it; it's the fact that I know it's a job that needs to be done so I've been doing it and will continue to do it," Heiser says. "It's a way of life and there has never been a time that I have not done it."
Heiser's belief that volunteerism runs in the family is even more cemented now that she sees her two sons volunteering, too. One of her sons even serves on the board of Visiting Nurses of the Lower Valley alongside her.
"It makes me happy that they volunteer and having my son on the board with me is pretty neat," says Heiser. "In the long run, it's all part of the family. Families operate pretty much the same generation after generation so if you learn to give back from your mother or father, it continues on."