I am delighted to write the welcome letter for this edition of Goodwill of the Finger Lakes Community Health magazine. Many of the topics are important to me, and I hope these stories inspire you and positively impact you and your community.

Committing to a lifestyle of health and wellness can include volunteering for something you care about. Volunteering is not only good for your community, it’s good for you.

Tracy L. Schleyer, Vice president of development

Did you know volunteering can improve your mental health, help you learn new skills, introduce you to like-minded people, allow you to create change in something that’s important to you and make you happy? Studies show that helping others makes all of this possible!

I started volunteering when I was about eight years old. I went door to door, asking people to donate for talk-show host Eddie Meath’s muscular dystrophy fundraising campaign. At a young age, I learned that volunteering can be fun, and it made me feel good to help others. Since then, I’ve volunteered for so many organizations that the list wouldn’t fit on this page.

Currently, I volunteer for three organizations. One is ColorBrightonGreen, which implements programs that engage Brighton residents to protect and improve our environment. I consider myself a conservationist and environmentalist, and my passion for the environment has led me to volunteer for organizations like ColorBrightonGreen and to kick-start Goodwill of the Finger Lakes’ Green Team. In this newsletter, you can read more about our Green Team, and if you’re interested in joining, please let me know.

I hope you will commit to improving your personal wellness and volunteering your time and talent to worthy organizations. Sharing your time with others for a good cause can improve your overall happiness and mental well-being. So get out there and volunteer!

Wishing you a spring of fun, health and wellness.

Be well.