This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/06/2022 08:30 AMClaudia Guilietti may prefer to avoid the spotlight and remain behind the scenes with all the volunteerism she does, but it is precisely her devotion to helping others that makes the world a better place.
“I’ve done a lot of things, but I never went to college,” Claudia says with her characteristic humbleness, and she sees her volunteerism as nothing more than an outward extension of her compassion for others.
Claudia moved to North Haven in 1988 with her husband of 39 years, Jim Guilietti (of the local law firm Guilietti and Morytko), but she grew up on Concord Avenue in Morris Cove.
While never having children of their own, “We’ve had plenty of dogs over the years,” Claudia says of herself and Jim, as well as an abundance of family in the form of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
“My husband is very involved in Rotary [but] I’m not an actual member because I don’t want to go a weekly meeting,” Claudia says with a laugh, adding, “I couldn’t when I was working.”
However, Claudia does volunteer at Rotary, helping wherever and whenever another pair of hands, a kind smile, and an encouraging spirit are needed.
Claudia was involved in Rotary in another way, opening her home to foreign exchange students.
“Through the Rotary we hosted three exchange students within the past 10 years,” Claudia says. “One was from Venezuela, one from Bolivia, and one from Kyrgyzstan. It was a great experience.”
All were high-school-aged boys, ages 15 or 16, by luck of the draw, Claudia notes, since she said you never know if you will be getting a girl or a boy exchange student.
“We had all boys, but it worked out really well,” she says. “They stayed with us for each school season, from late August through May, and they went back home in June.”
It’s been about five years since Claudia hosted her last exchange student, mainly because COVID threw a wrench into the program.
Although she’d love to host students once again, she admits, “But we’re getting on a bit in years now and they’re better off sometimes I think in a family that has other children that go to high school.”
Claudia has also volunteered at Special Olympics for over two decades, and she’s currently in her four or fifth term as the chairperson for the Commission on Aging, having worked with the organization for many years.
“I try to help out at the Senior Center when they have craft fairs and things like that, but again, COVID put a stop to a lot of those things for a while,” notes Claudia.
She has also served as president of the North Haven Land Trust, and still serves the organization today in other capacities. As if that were not enough of a volunteer schedule, Claudia also served as co-president with another woman of the Friends for the North Haven Memorial Library.
“I just retired over a year ago from 50 years in business, first in the bridal business for 25 years followed by 25 years in boat financing,” Claudia says, and now shifts some of her time to helping care for her aged father.
“My dad, who is almost 98 years old and completely with it, is a fall risk now and needs to have someone with him all the time,” Claudia explains. “So, I and my four other siblings all take care of him. My one sister who is also retired, we do a little more extra hours, but my three brothers all help out and we all take care of dad, which we find to be very rewarding.”
For the past 25 years, Claudia has also been part of a group called the Friends Committee for Children, which draws members from East Haven and North Haven and open to new members.
“We are a small group of women, like 11 or 12 of us, and what we did in the past years is volunteer at St. Francis Home for Children in New Haven,” she says.
Sadly, St. Francis Home closed its doors in 2012 after 160 years due to a lack of funding.
“Now we concentrate on New Reach in New Haven,” says Claudia. “They have several women’s shelters, and there are two shelters in New Haven where we volunteer. Before COVID, we used to do Christmas parties there, we used to do a pasta night there, and Bingo. [We did] anything we could do to help the woman and their children.”
“But since COVID our small group hasn’t been able to go to the shelters,” continues Claudia. “But we still do Christmas gifts and many times we collect toiletries, socks, hats, and gloves and drop them off at New Reach. Hopefully, soon we will be able to be hands-on again and be able to do other events at the shelters.”
Claudia adds, “They do a fundraiser each year, and hopefully they will be able do it live this year. Once that starts, they will probably allow us back into the shelters.”
“It’s hard to get volunteers, and we need younger blood,” Claudia admits. “[I]f anyone ever wants to join, they can get in touch with me.”
“Volunteering is something I’ve done throughout my life,” says Claudia. “I’ve always enjoyed volunteering, and I think you get more out of it than you give, especially with Special Olympics,” she says with an emotional crack in her voice. “It’s overwhelming.”
If all that wasn’t enough for one person, Claudia says, “Once I have more free time, I’m thinking of volunteering at Ronald McDonald House.”
On Saturday, April 9, the North Haven Land Trust is having a document shredding event in celebration of Earth Day at the North Haven High School, along with other Earth Day-related happenings.
Claudia invites everyone to attend, saying, “I’ll be volunteering there.”
Claudia also invites others from North Haven or East Haven to join her Friends Committee for Children to help New Reach in New Haven. For more information, contact Claudia directly at mindy318@sbcglobal.net.