(upbeat music) - Hello, neighbors.

Welcome to "Look for the Helpers: Portraits in Community Service."

I'm your host, Cynthia Tyler.

For as long as people have lived together, there have been those who've been inspired to give freely of themselves in order to make people's lives better.

Volunteers have provided the creation and foundation for so many non-profit organizations and groups, truly becoming the beating heart of the community through their tireless and selfless efforts.

Today, we take time to honor and learn about two of our many local volunteers.

Donna Chatterton is the director of Gwen's Food Pantry in La Fargeville, where she's volunteered for over 50 years.

She's also volunteered her time as an EMT with the LaFargeville Fire Department.

Kylie Schell's son is the inspiration behind her calling to create Encompass Recreation, the North Country's first sports organization for disabled children and young adults.

Please join me as we celebrate our local volunteers.

(upbeat music) I am here with Donna Chatterton, the director of Gwen's Food Pantry in La Fargeville.

Welcome, so glad to have you here with us today.

- Thank you.

- And now, you are a long time volunteer here in the North Country fire departments, food pantries, schools, all of that.

Where did you get started in volunteering?

- I think probably when I was in high school, I joined any clubs or anything we could do and liked helping doing all of that.

And then after I graduated from college and started teaching, the first volunteer stuff I did was with the Girl Scouts because they needed someone to do the troop, and I was crazy and said yes with it.

(Cynthia laughs) So that was the first thing I did in the community of La Fargeville - Was the Girl Scouts, which of course is a nationally known for their volunteer efforts, that's fantastic.

So after that, after the Girl Scouts, what led you into the fire department, you're longstanding volunteer there?

- I actually started teaching in La Fargeville in 1969 and the school is right across from the fire department.

And I would watch the ambulance come and not be staffed.

So when we moved to La Fargeville, it was in 1988, I joined the fire department, and immediately became an EMT so that I could run calls.

- That's amazing.

- And the school district was extremely supportive.

So if they were really short of manpower, the ambulance would come over to the school, they'd cover my class, and I would go on a call.

- Wow, what an amazing community that they would support each other like that.

- And then after that, we no longer did our ambulance because we became tiers with all the communities, and I was on the governing board of that when it first started, and continued that as a board member for 20 years.

- And let's face it, being on a board, that is some of the toughest volunteer work you can do, isn't it?

- It is.

- Yes, and then now when you were part of that board there, did you help organize the volunteers?

Did you go out and- - No, I strictly was a board member and we did whatever we needed to do as part of the board.

I did not work as an EMT or anything at that point, I was no longer certified.

- I see, very good.

So from that, after your education career, you've now become the director of Gwen's Food Pantry?

- I started actually volunteering for that when I first started teaching.

- [Cynthia] Oh!

- And then I was supervisor of the town and the person doing the food pantry no longer would do it, so I ended up taking it over, and I've been doing that as a volunteer since 19, like, 70.

And then I've been director of it for probably the past 15 years with it.

- And what kind of work does that food pantry involve?

If any volunteer came in, what would their duties be?

- We can always use volunteers.

We have volunteers who come and help us serve the clients on Saturdays.

We have a number of volunteers that help unload the truck when it comes from Syracuse, and help do things like that.

I have one gentleman that does all the pickups with me when we pick up locally at stores and things.

So people do not realize the amount of hours that the volunteers need to put in to do an operation like this for the community.

- Yes, I imagine that's a very, very difficult thing.

Are you having trouble finding volunteers?

- I have my same volunteers.

The only problem with most food pantries with volunteers, we're all elderly, but we have a wonderful support system now from the school.

They used to unload my trucks when we were downtown.

Now, they can't do that, but as part of their community service for the National Honor Society, they volunteer on Saturdays to help stock shelves, carry out the clients' groceries, and everything, and they need to do so much community service.

- Oh, that's excellent that you can tie in the education with that, that's wonderful.

- So they come and they work, and they do all that for us.

- Oh, that is fantastic.

Now, what does this volunteer service mean to you personally?

What does it bring to your life?

- I think the big thing is I hate to see people suffering and going without, so that's why I continue to do it because they are needy, and they need help to get back on their feet.

So it's just been a way of life.

My granddaughter, for instance, did so much of it when she was young that when she was 16, she was the Jefferson County Volunteer of the Year.

- Wow.

- So she's been doing this since she was two years old.

- How excellent.

- Indoctrinated in doing volunteer stuff.

- That's wonderful.

Obviously, she had a very good example to learn from.

That's really amazing.

- And she doesn't do much of it now, but she used to do it.

- But how wonderful that you could inspire her to do all of that.

I'm sure she learned by watching, absolutely.

- She did.

- That's excellent.

How difficult is it to get a food pantry, like Gwen's Food Pantry started, what kind of process is involved to getting those things off the ground?

- This was started years and years ago, probably 50, 60 years ago in a person's house.

And then Gwen took it over and had it in her house.

And she ran it for years.

And that's why we call it Gwen's Food Pantry, is because we set it up.

Back then it was strictly on donations.

Now, we're part of the food bank from Syracuse, and we write grants, people donate money to us to buy things, they donate products, but it's not an easy job because everything is so expensive as far as all of your overhead and the price of food just has skyrocketed.

- So therefore volunteers are even more critical because- - Critical!

- That's a way to support it without having too much extra cost involved.

- We have actually no costs other than utilities.

Everything is strictly volunteer though, anybody that works, - How wonderful.

- And I think all your little food pantries in Jefferson County are like that.

- Fantastic, that's very good to know.

Now, if somebody needs to get in contact with Gwen's Food Pantry, how do they do that, where can they find you?

- We have websites, the Food Bank of Central New York has a whole listing of food pantries.

And we have a sign out front, and my house phone number is actually on that sign.

- Oh, fantastic.

- So they can just call and leave a message.

We do accept donations all the time as far as monetary and anything like that, we're always welcoming - Because there's always a need in the community, - There's a need to purchase more food and toiletries.

- Absolutely, yeah.

Now, all of your volunteer service, everything that you've given to your community, is there a very special moment that you think of whenever you're feeling low or you need to be inspired?

What's your golden memory that you go to?

- Oh, I don't know.

I think what makes me happy that people feel they can call me if they're in need, and leave a message on my phone that they know that we'll call back and we're not going to reject anybody.

We try extremely to show no partiality in anything like that that I do with it- - Of course, that's wonderful.

- And that's the same with my volunteers.

They're very sincere, which is good.

- Yeah, that is fantastic.

It's a gift of the heart, it's a gift of service, so you, of course, are gonna expect the very best of people, and they're gonna get the best of people for volunteering.

So if somebody wants to volunteer, say if you're just walking on the street with them and they talk about volunteering, what would you say to them to inspire them to volunteer?

- I actually have one lady that walked in the door when she was out walking, that was new to the community, and volunteered.

And so she'll come when I call her, and I just explain to them if they'd like to come, just come and visit us and see what's going on.

And if they're interested, then they can come back another time - Because it's a little bit of time, a lot of time, it's whatever you can give, right?

- It's whatever they can do.

I have some people that just unload the trucks, and don't volunteer with the clients.

- So there's something for everybody in volunteering.

- There's something for everybody like that that they could do.

- And it's totally enriched your life, it's made your life better.

- [Donna] It's fun, I enjoy it.

- It's fun.

- I do it all the time, every Saturday.

- Well, I imagine it's so great to get out and connect with the community and make new friends- - With it.

- It's just a way to rebuild our community after everything that we've been through as a people with a pandemic and all of that, now you've got the chance to inspire people to come back in and reconnect, that's wonderful.

All right, well thank you so much, Donna.

We really appreciate you being here- - You're welcome.

- And we wish you all the future success for your endeavors.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) We have Kylie Schell, from Encompass Recreation, with us.

How are you doing today, Kylie?

- I'm great, thanks.

- Thank you so much for being here, we really appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- So let's get right to it.

You know, you and I have actually known each other for quite a long time, way back in the Girl Scouts at Camp Whispering Pines - Camp Whispering Pines, yes.

- Yes.

Now, I knew you were a big volunteer back then.

Did your volunteer efforts start before Girl Scouts?

- That's a good question.

I kind of feel like I've always just been involved in things.

I don't ever really remember if any compensation ever came out about it.

I always really liked kids.

I always liked being active, and I always really just liked being involved.

So, I mean, likely maybe, but you know, Camp is a good base for most things.

- It is definitely a place to cut your teeth on a lot of those experiences.

So it's always just been about giving for you, you've always been very connected to community and supporting them in that, which is so wonderful because you've created Encompass Recreation, which is the North Country's first organization for disabled children and young adults to connect with sports and activities and communities.

Tell us a little bit about how that got started.

- So that came about, I've got three children, and I've got two kids with autism.

Both of my boys are autistic and they are the exact opposite kind of autism.

My oldest son is what we used to call Asperger's which is no longer a thing, but super smart, but really anxious, struggles with social stuff.

And then my youngest son, who's currently nine, is non-speaking, uses a communication device, but ironically is really social.

But the older they got, I realized, the lesser the options were for them.

They didn't fit in traditional programming, and that's not a slight to traditional programming, they're just not meant for kids with higher needs.

And so I started something.

And I wish I could tell you it was more than that, but at the end of the day, I needed opportunities for my kids to feel belonging, I needed opportunities for kids like my kids to have a community and not something that was forced, it was something that was very authentic and natural.

And that's how we started.

- That's amazing.

So you saw a need in the community and you went out and said, "I'm going to build what is necessary for this need," that's absolutely amazing.

Now, you've only been in production with Encompass Rec for a few years.

But before that, when you were struggling with your sons growing up and all of this, and you're looking around, what kind of inspirations did you take from this?

Did you create it from your own ideas?

Did you find a different group elsewhere?

What inspired you to put this together this way?

- So a couple different things.

I used to coordinate a local kids running series, and within that running series, there was this division that allowed for kids with different needs to be able to participate with additional support.

I loved that, and my youngest participated in that.

And then one night on the news, I'm not sure if it was "60 Minutes" or something similar, but they highlighted this program called "Challenger Baseball," which there actually is a "Challenger Baseball" in Syracuse.

And again, that's a specific baseball program for kids with higher support needs, which is how I like to say it, because at the end of the day, there's a lot of kids out there that maybe don't have diagnoses or whatnot, but higher support needs.

So I went and checked it out, and I was ready to pull the trigger and I was ready to bring "Challenger Baseball."

And my husband said, "Well, why would you join that when you could just start your own, and you could do more than baseball, you could do more than running?"

So in August of 2022, I googled how to start a nonprofit in New York State, and here we are- - And rest is history.

- Yeah, we just just had our two-year anniversary of being official.

- Absolutely outstanding, very, very cool.

And now you've got a career in mental health, right?

You actually went to school, you studied this, so you've got a really fantastic base.

So combined with your volunteering experience and all of that, it must have been... Did you find it challenging?

Did you find it invigorating?

How did it make you feel creating something like this for the community?

- All of that, challenging and invigorating.

It's a bit daunting, sort of the business end of running a nonprofit.

Luckily, I have a lot of support.

But you're right, I think my background in mental health, I spent about 15 years as a contracted caseworker for the Department of Social Services, and then that sparked me to go back and get my master's in social work.

I work for BOCES, that's my day job, I'm a licensed clinical social worker up there.

And so I see in our special ed programmings the different needs that all of these kids have.

And I think that was a real great jumping off point for what type of things we needed to offer, as well as the support.

And again, you know, no slight traditional programs, but what I like to say is I live and I work this life, which I think gives me a different vantage point than a lot of other people.

So it's surrounds me, and I feel like I have real good take on what's going on.

And that's not to say that I know it all, 'cause there's a whole lot of stuff that I don't, but I handpicked my board of directors because they bring a whole lot of experience and knowledge and support to us, and it's been really great.

And we're making things adjust as we need to.

- Well, that's absolutely... You touched on that point definitely that nobody achieves anything alone, and that you've got your entire board of people of like-minded individuals.

Now, as for support needs for this, what ranges does Encompass Recreation support, like obviously, there are autistic students.

- Sure.

- But as physical disabilities go or people that need mobility devices, all of that supported?

- Absolutely, and it's fair to say that depending on the program or event that we're offering, it may or may not be something that a particular, you know, group of kiddos is comfortable participating.

But we don't ask, nor do we require, any type of official diagnosis.

I would say, if I had to guess, I say we have a pretty big contingent of autistic folks.

But we have kids in wheelchairs and in gait trainers.

We have, you name it, we've had these kids come to our programming.

And again, like something like basketball, which is maybe a little bit more fast-paced, might not be somebody's, you know, bread and butter, but something like art club might be.

And the beauty is, is you can choose what works.

But what I can promise you is that you're gonna come to an event where you're supported, and nobody's gonna look at you when your kid decides to have a moment or refuse to participate or any of that stuff.

And you're gonna be around people who live this life, and you're not gonna feel judged, you're gonna find a community at our events.

- And that's very, very important, when we say that we are building a community here.

Now, it must be just as important for the adults in your organization as it is for the children.

I mean, I myself have an autistic son, and I know it's a struggle for adults to connect with each other.

Now, how is that connection between the adults, the grownups in this community, how has that impacted things around you?

Like, have you seen the growth there and the connection for all of them together?

- I think it's fair to say that a lot of us have made some more friends, which I think is just really wonderful.

It's fair that families of kiddos with higher support needs often feel very isolated, like they're not welcome places.

But again, you know, we start seeing familiar faces and we start seeing people that we recognize, or maybe we recognize their kid, but we haven't necessarily found out mom or dad's name yet.

And it creates a community where people say "Hi" when you walk in, and they're just as happy to see you.

We went to a birthday party a couple months ago, and it was the first time that one of our friends had been invited to a non-family birthday party, and we love that, because again, you know, it's a hard life out there when your kids are different.

- Yes!

- But I tell my kids, you know, being like everybody else shouldn't be your goal.

- No, absolutely not.

And how wonderful that you've created the space for them.

Now, what words would you use to inspire anybody to start volunteering?

- You know, my board president put it best when she said, "If you're looking for a dose of dopamine, just come to one of our events and you're gonna get it."

Because depending on your comfort level, we've got a place for the volunteers as well.

The bottom line of our mission statement says there's a place for everyone on our team.

And I feel like that is not only for the kids and the families, but for our volunteers.

So, you know, if you wanna volunteer at say art club, but again, maybe baseball's not your thing, we've got a room for that.

You know, we've got a whole lot of options, and at the end of the day, I promise I'll find someplace that you'll fit and you'll feel welcome and useful.

- I have zero doubt about that whatsoever.

And now where can we find out more about Encompass Rec signups, all of those sorts of things?

- Sure, so encompassrec.com is our website and that is up-to-date as much as we certainly can.

We have a pretty decent Facebook and Instagram presence as well, so there's a whole lot of stuff on there.

But you can check out either of those.

We have found that most of our people are finding our stuff via social media, word of mouth.

So at the end of the day, just check it out or message me, yeah.

- Fantastic.

Now, I'm gonna wrap this up with asking you something kind of interesting in the sense that you've seen so many kids and you've seen so many different interactions.

What is a really special moment that stands out for you when you're feeling like maybe, "Oh, I can't do this," or whatever.

What memory do you draw to keep you going?

- So one of my favorite things that has happened this year, we've got a little friend who is a pretty anxious kiddo, they... Lots of sounds sort of stress them out a little bit.

You know, we often choose to clap like this as opposed to, you know, the traditional clapping when our friend is around.

And this winter, we went tubing at Dry Hill, and a whole lot of our kids had never been tubing, including my youngest.

And this friend came ripping down that hill about 40 times and came up to me and he's like, "Kylie, I'm on time, you know, 18" and if you would've put that list of kids in front of me for that day, I probably wouldn't have said that this one was going to enjoy it the most, but they did.

I've actually goosebumps thinking about it because this kiddo has made so much progress.

And again, these kids prove us wrong all the time because, you know, again, we didn't think this friend was gonna like it that much, and we didn't think a lot of these friends were gonna like tubing this much.

But I think about that often.

- Oh, wonderful.

- Yeah!

- You've created a world and a way for the world to come to these kids.

- Yes.

- And that is a really fabulous, remarkable thing.

And honestly, I just don't understand why people would think that people who are different can't belong.

Are there any other social challenges that you're finding with people outside of the disabled community?

Have you had any kind of challenges with that?

- I mean, there's always challenges.

I think that there are opportunities to learn.

I think that we have gotten a lot of great volunteers who have maybe never had opportunities to interact with kids like ours.

So I think sometimes the challenges are just the lack of exposure.

They're not sure how to interact with a kiddo that might not talk back, but we certainly know they can hear.

So those types of challenges.

And again, I'm not gonna call it a challenge, but something we need to work through is that not, again, not every program is going to be something that every kiddo is going to enjoy.

You know, if we offer, say, dance class, it's gonna be a general dance class.

So some of these kiddos might have to, you know, back off a little bit or some of 'em are gonna have to sort of take a step forward.

So we just try to offer the best we can for all of that.

I will say we have a lot of families who don't think their kid has high-enough needs to come.

They don't wanna take a spot from somewhere else.

And my answer to that is, you're always welcome to check in with me and I'll help you tease it out.

But, you know, there's only a handful of our events that have hard registration limits.

I mean, I certainly can't take 60 kids bowling, so that one's going to be... (Cynthia laughs) But, you know, we have open registration for indoor soccer right now.

- Fantastic.

- We can make that work.

You know, so at the end of the day, try it out.

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

But, you know, that doesn't mean that something else won't.

- Wonderful.

Well, Kylie, thank you so much for being with us.

We very much appreciate you being here, and we wish you all the best continued success with Encompass Recreation.

- Thank you so much.

(bright music) - It's a reminder that bears repeating: No one achieves anything alone.

The world needs help, and even the smallest amount of help can change the course of a life.

We hope that you're inspired to go out into our world and become the helper that we're all looking for.

Thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (gentle music)