This week at Rotary, we welcomed Lynne Krasker Schultz. Lynne currently serves as the Executive Director of SPUR, Inc., a nonprofit on the North Shore that focuses on connecting people to volunteer opportunities that meet tangible needs in the community. Volunteer opportunities are for no more than two hours and are not necessarily repeated every week. Each opportunity is meant to meet a real need in the community, such as helping the homeless, addressing food insecurity, cleaning the environment, and winter essentials for those in need. SPUR has recently begun working in Salem and Lynn after starting in Marblehead and Swampscott. They are expanding to additional neighboring communities. They help other nonprofits to meet their mission goals. For example, SPUR helps provide the Salem Pantry with volunteers. They seek to empower the next generation by teaching service learning in K-12 schools through an enrichment program. They do not fundraise for other organizations or provide volunteers for fundraisers. They have piloted community cooking programs that provide food to shelters and food pantries, and grow fruits and vegetables for food pantries that do not provide their own. They even won third prize for their peppers at the Topsfield Fair!

 

SPUR also has a food rescue program where they take food from stores like Schubies and Crosbys in Marblehead that would otherwise be discarded, and deliver it to group homes and organizations providing emergency help. Another project involves delivering prepared food to the Recuperative Care Center in Lynn, the Haven Project in Lynn, River House in Beverly, and LifeBridge in Salem. SPUR has a student success drive in August where they pack over 700 backpacks for children with supplies for the coming school year. Beginning in November, there is a Holiday Cheer Drive where the look to provide holiday gifts to children in need.  

 

The organization's vision is that they want everyone who wants to make a difference in their community through volunteering an easy way to give back that makes a meaningful impact. Started in 2014. 

 

Volunteering can have an amazing impact. Studies show that people who volunteer live longer, have lower rates of depression, have better cardiovascular health, and have a better sense of well-being. It turns out the kindness is, in fact, contagious. People who witness acts of kindness and other pro-social behavior are more likely to act in the same way. 
 

SPUR is always looking for more volunteers and donations. 

 

 

Joan Arsenault and Martha Mauser recognized two Paul Harris Fellow Award winners from the Salem Rotary Club, Jen Close and Carolyn Shapiro. Paul Harris Fellows must donate at least $1,000 and attend the District Conference. These two amazing Salem Rotarians received an award and a pin. Congratulations to you both!! 

 

SEE THE FLYER BELOW FOR DETAILS