Volunteer Strong Home

Volunteer Strong is everywhere in...Brookfield, CT

Rake-n-Bake Fall Event

Welcome to Volunteer Strong (VS)!

I am the President and Founder of Volunteer Strong. VS is a non-profit organization designed to honor and thank all volunteers (adults as well as children), to create unity among volunteers and to teach children to be volunteers using educational activities.

I am a psychologist with a Ph. D. from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. My home is in Tunkhannock, PA which is a rural community surrounded by the beautiful Endless Mountains and filled with my inspiration, an endless spirit of volunteerism.

All decisions concerning the operation of Volunteer Strong are controlled by a five member Board of Directors who meet twice per year.

Donations to Volunteer Strong will be used in two ways:

(1) to buy the "Spirit of Volunteerism" T-Shirt Awards and the Appreciation Certificates to be presented to those volunteers whose efforts are defined by extraordinary circumstances such as creating his or her own non-profit organization, having served a life time of volunteer service, etc.

2) to buy the materials needed for hands-on educational projects to teach children how to be volunteers, and the Volunteer Strong Kids t-shirts for the children participating in those projects.

Please enjoy your visit to Volunteer Strong.

Diane Secor, Ph. D.

From left Pete Brady, the Handy Dandy Handy Man with the 1000
volunteers who participated in the 14th annual Rake-n-Bake Fall Event.

Pete Brady, the Handy Dandy Handy Man, is the spark that ignited the 1000 volunteers who collected in the Brookfield High School gym on November 19, 2011 ready to divide into 57 teams and get to work raking the leaves in about 80 yards in the Danbury, CT area. Using all their own rakes, tarps and leaf blowers, the volunteers raked the leaves for the elderly and others who are unable to do the physical work.

After about an hour and a half when the rake portion of the event was completed, all the volunteers, including children, returned to the high school gym for the scrumptious bake part which consisted of food donated by several local businesses, including 1500 hot dogs.

Thank you to all the volunteers who joined hands again this fall with Pete Brady, a timeless inspiration with an undisputed volunteer spirit that puts smiles on the faces of all who know him.

Congratulations to Pete Brady and his volunteers for their selection on December 23, 2011 by Walmart as one of the ten nonprofits to receive a $20,000.00 award because they are "true heroes for their communities and have made selfless acts to help those in need."

To learn more about the work of Pete Brady and his volunteers please visit the Handy Dandy Handy Man at www.hdhm.org.

Volunteer Strong Unity Photo Gallery

Click on each photo to read about the volunteers and nonprofit organizations who are the Spirit of Volunteer Strong. (more photos)

View the entire Volunteer Strong Unity Photo Gallery