Like many volunteers, Brenda Babjak of Tinley Park was born with her hand in the air, or so it seems.
”I`ve volunteered since I was a child. I enjoy working to help other people,” said Babjak. ”What I do I can`t say is a living because I don`t get paid, but I`m a full-time volunteer.”
She`s been a Girl Scout leader, served on a local food pantry board and is an elected park district commissioner, also a volunteer position. She said good volunteers are all alike.
”We all know each other. True volunteers know each other. It`s an inborn instinct that you have or don`t have,” said Babjak, who also volunteers with the Tinley Park Youth Commission.
She must have known that Brian McLaughlin was one of these special people. He has only just graduated from Tinley Park High School, but has already shown the qualities that lead to a life of service. His volunteer work recently earned him a special J.C. Penney Golden Rule Award, an award that Babjak nominated him for and has won herself.
McLaughlin, a Tinley Park resident, was cited for his work with the youth commission. At a local drop-in center, he worked with younger kids. He`s also given time to Operation Snowball, a drug prevention group for teenagers in high school, he said.
In addition to a prep career in football, basketball and track, McLaughlin still found time to help his church`s youth group.
”It`s the satisfaction you get. It`s like a natural high. I wanted to give back stuff I`ve learned. Just to reach one person is truly fantastic.”
Bob Wallace, an Orland Park resident who is a vice president at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, understands those feelings.
”I found that by doing something for someone without someone asking for it can make you feel pretty good, and you can see some direct results,” he said.
Wallace was recently named a Melvin Jones Fellow by the Beverly Ridge Lions Club, an honor that memorializes the founder of Lions Clubs
International, one of the world`s largest service organizations. His 18 years of volunteering for that grop has brought him real satisfaction.
It was a highly publicized child abuse case that 19 years ago prompted Diane Kreiman to found Child Abuse Prevention Programs Inc. The group offers a speakers bureau that disseminates information on a variety of topics relating to child abuse. Based in Kreiman`s home in Dolton, the organization serves Illinois and has sent speakers to surrounding states as well.
Through her dedication, the group now has 1,500 volunteers in Illinois alone.
”I think if you`ve ever worked with children,” Kreiman said, ”if you could just see these kids` faces and how thrilled they are, that`s all the reward a person needs.”
