IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Spring 2019 | Page 60

VOLUNTEERING
“Time is your most precious gift because you only have a
set amount of it. You can make more money, but you can’t
make more time. When you give someone your time, you
are giving them a portion of your life that you’ll never get
back. Your time is your life. That is why the greatest gift
you can give someone is your time.”
M
ark Malone was never a Super Bowl
quarterback – in fact, he appeared in exactly
THREE playoff games in his NFL career, winning
one. His Steelers bested John Elway’s Denver
Broncos in the 1984 Divisional Round before
being bested by Dan Marino’s Miami Dolphins in the AFC
Championship Game the following week. He did hold a
Pittsburgh Steeler record… he caught a 90 yard Touchdown
pass from Terry Bradshaw in 1981 which stood as the
longest TD pass in Steelers history for 33 years until it was
broken in 2014.
Three of those Quarterbacks are in the Pro Football Hall of
Fame, but Mark Malone had a much more significant impact
on my life, with an assist from Lou Pappan (“An’ you gonna
like it!” ™) In the summer of 1987, Mark Malone and Lou
Pappan were the local spokesmen for the National Multiple
Sclerosis Soceity – they were encouraging local children and
teens to volunteer and setup a “Backyard Fair” to help raise
money for the MS society – if you raised enough, you could be
selected to have lunch with Mark and Lou at a Pappan’s Family
Restaurant (I wasn’t selected)
I made the call to the number on the screen and a short
time later, I got my packet with all of the information that I
needed to get started. I had no idea what I was doing, heck,
I was only 10 years old – so I just made it up as I went along.
— Rick Warren from “The Purpose Driven Life:
What on Earth am I Here For”
I solicited neighborhood businesses for donations to use as
prizes, set up games, and held the fair in July of 1987. I don’t
remember exactly how much money was raised, or how many
hours I, along with a few of my friends that I had recruited to
help between our games of backyard wiffle ball; but I knew
that I was making a difference, I had a letter that said so –
signed by Mark and Lou.
In January of 1991, my single mom took a job in New York
that forced me and her to relocate to Erie, PA. We didn’t know
anyone; my older brothers were already out of school and
own their own. I made a few friends in my first months at
Strong Vincent High School, but still, something was lacking.
As luck would have it, another commercial intervened. This
time it was from the Flagship Niagara League. They were
looking for volunteers as tour guides at the US Brig Niagara,
docked in Erie. It was March and there was still snow on the
ground, but we were already preparing for a summer on the
water – yes, not only was the position as a tour guide, but as
a member of the Ship’s Crew! The time I spent on the Niagara,
sailing not only the waters of Lake Erie, but also in the open
ocean as we took her around the northern tip of Gasp`e,
Quebec and down the St. Lawrence Seaway back to Erie in the
summer of 1992 was incredible. Not bad for a 15 year old that,
mind you, cannot swim – I still cannot, but that hasn’t stopped
me from volunteering to participate in multiple Polar Plunges
in to the Monongahela on New Year’s Day.
It is kind of the long way around, but volunteerism is a part
of who I am, it has shaped me in to the person that I have
become, not too far removed from that kid that wanted to do
what he could to help his favorite QB.
Take a second to think about all the great things we have
here in Brentwood. 2019 will mark the 100th Fourth of July
celebration in our Borough. On that day, tens of thousands
will line Brownsville Road for the greatest 4th of July Parade
in the region, followed by a day of picnics, and capped off
with a breathtaking (weather permitting, of course) fireworks
display at dusk. Fireworks are part of our Borough logo – to be
in Brentwood on the 4th of July is a great feeling. What if I told
you that the whole celebration, the parade, and the fireworks
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BRENTWOOD-BALDWIN-WHITEHALL