Brandy
Zrubek, Heart House Austin
 Brandy
Zrubek and the 6th grade "Jr. Volunteers" |
Brandy
Zrubek began volunteering at Heart House in June of last year.
She originally was assigned to volunteer with the oldest group of
children, the 4th - 6th graders. During
the summer program, Brandy was a tremendous help.
She developed bonds with several of the older kids.
When school began in the fall, Brandy continued to work with
primarily the 6th graders. Brandy
says, “It’s been so neat watching the 6th graders mature and become
Jr. Volunteers.” This
spring, Brandy has taken on new responsibilities.
She is now a front desk volunteer and tutors the same child weekly
with her reading. Brandy is
able to give a little more time to the Heart House children and is now
volunteering with the K and 1st grade children during their activity time.
Her continued dedication and flexibility are the reasons she was
chosen to be spotlighted this month. When
asked about Brandy, Diane Cannon, Executive Director says, “Brandy is
very adaptable. She has the
unique ability to work with all ages of children.”
Brandy
is from rural
Texas
, which she describes as “the middle of nowhere, in between
Georgetown
and Granger.” She moved to
Austin
to study biology at U.T. and plans on graduating in 2006.
After that, her plans are uncertain, but they involve a graduate
program in medicine or scientific research.
Brandy has an interesting field of interest.
Along with her coursework, she is currently working in a lab
dissecting bird brains to study the brain’s response to stress.
One day, Brandy would like to “do her own research on how the
brain works, or on possible cures for cancer, or something else that would
be helpful to society.” We
hope Brandy knows that she is already helping society one child at a time.
Brandy
enjoys doing just about anything. She
plays tennis and volleyball, likes to dance, write poetry and play the
piano. Brandy is even training
to run a marathon next year! And,
in her spare time, she is learning Czech….
How does she have time to volunteer?
Volunteering
with children is something Brandy has always done.
In high school, she loved math and tutored middle school students
for state math competitions. Brandy
also helped to lead Bible study for middle school students at her church.
For two years, Brandy was a mentor for a few children in 4th, 5th,
and 6th grades. Brandy
will always be a champion for children.
“Wherever I end up in life, I’d love to keep contributing my
time to children,” she says. There
is no question about her dedication to improving the lives of children.
On behalf of the Heart House kids, we THANK YOU, Ms.
Brandy!
 Clay
Cothrum |
Clay
Cothrum, Heart
House Dallas
Heart
House Dallas puts its next volunteer spotlight on Clay Cothrum, one of
2003’s top ten volunteers, having donated 54 hours of his time. Clay
earned a B.A. in History from
Austin
College
and currently works as a consultant with Masterplan Consultants.
Clay
is a trustworthy tutor who has also chaperoned field trips and distributed
holiday dinner baskets to the families of the children we serve. He
plunges right into any situation and has a knack for helping children find
the right answers for their homework assignments, without giving too much
information away. Clay feels that he gains valuable insights from his time
at Heart House. It reminds him that “age is in your head” and has
shown him that one day he will be able to “handle a child of my own.”
He also says that volunteering at Heart House “can make my day…when I
am stressed, I go there, forget what time it is and just have fun - how
can a person not?”
Thank
you Clay!
Whether
working directly with the children or providing technical or
administrative expertise in the background, your help is needed!
Check out our website and volunteer
opportunities or fill out an on-line
application today!
Read
more Volunteer Spotlights
|
