Volunteer Week: Virtual Round of Applause for Moira Bundschuh

I first met Moira Bundschuh when volunteering with at the Hyannis Youth and Community Center. She is impressive and has been a force behind the . Her energy exudes kindness and a willingness to help. 

What are all the organizations you work with?

I am the director of the Hyannis Supporting Our Youth Task Force and sit on the board of the Cape Cod Neighborhood Support Coalition.

How long have you been volunteering?

My mom had us begin going to local nursing homes to visit residents from the time I was in kindergarten. We would go and talk or play games with people that did not have many visitors. So, if I count back until that time, it's been 30 years.

I began volunteering on my own in high school so that would be 21 years.  Where did you first volunteer?
The first place that I chose to volunteer at was the NOAH shelter by handing out bag lunches when I was a freshman in high school. After that, I began volunteering at the Cape Cod Hospital Thrift Store for most of high school and became very involved in Key Club at Barnstable High School. It is a high school community service organization sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. We did a variety of different volunteer activities including helping out at NOAH, cleaning beaches and roadways, throwing birthday parties at family shelters, raising money for the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute and providing volunteers for many other local organizations to help them run events or programs. 

Why do you do it?

My mother instilled in me a deep appreciation for making sure to leave the world better than I found it. From the stories that she read to me as a child, the character education that she provided me and the willingness to "humor" my crazy ideas for helping people, I was given the freedom to try to help fight injustice and make things better for people. As I became older, my faith has steered me into more of the justice-oriented volunteering because I believe that all people should feel loved and cared for and that it is everyone's responsibility to see a need and fill it.

Moira is someone I asked to participate in our Virtual Round of Applause for Volunteer Week. Know someone worth applauding? Please email me their name and email address at Jennifer.Simckowitz@patch.com.