May 27, 2004

Volunteer of the Week: Jim and KathyGrove; Shaina Knepler-Foss

Jim and Kathy Grove and Shaina Kneppler-Foss have been chosen as the 2003 South Valley YMCA’s Volunteers of the Year.

Kneppler-Foss, a 16-year-old Leland student is the YMCA’s Teen Volunteer of the Year. She has taken the initiative to implement numerous teen-related programs at the Y. Seeing a need for change, she jumped in and created activities for the Teen Council, recruited role models to serve on the committee and incorporated developmental assets into the Teen Leadership Program curriculum. She also conducted a teen leadership class at the South Valley Family Y teen center.

Kneppler-Foss is considered by many at the Y to not only be a role model herself, but also actively take part in the lives of other youths. She enjoys volunteering because it keeps her involved in the community.

“The community, especially the Almaden community, everyone is here for eachother. Everyone is nice and it’s good to give back to the community any way I can,” she says.

In October of 2003, Kneppler-Foss attended the Healthy Communities, Healthy Youth conference, sponsored by Project Cornerstone, where she acteda s a youth presenter. She says she works to ensure that the YMCA is a safe and fun place for teens by creativng activities, such as her most recent, Teen Nite 2003. In doing that, she recruited volunteers to staff and promote the event in which 150 teens attended.

She also volunteers for the City of San Jose Parks and Recreation Department. She runs the snack-shack five days a week, about 3-4 hours a day. “I basically volunteer 24/7 with school in between,” she says.

The Spot is a youth center that is part of the Parks and Recreation Department, located behind Bret Harte Middle School. Kneppler-Foss also volunteers her time there, planning activities and finding fun activities for local teens to do.

“I learn new things every day. The teens have so much to offer and teach, it’s rewarding both ways and I love it.”
She became involved with The Spot after attending Bret Harte. “I used to hang out there, then I was asked to join the teen council there, and since then I’ve been very active,” she says. “I plan to do this even after I graduate high school.”

The Groves are the 2003 Adult Volunteers of the Year. They have been active volunteers in the South Valley YMCA since 1994, after their daughter Nancy started working at the Y. Jim, a woodshop teacher at the time helped to build games and props for special events, while Kathy helped with event decorations.

Kathy has also volunteered for the branches annual community support for the past seven years. She has helped to raise over $10,000 for the branch. Jim has also been instrumental in helping refurbish and rejuvenates the branch by building, fixing and painting, and possessing the ability to stretch out the Y’s financial resources as much as possible.

“I grew up volunteering. It’s very rewarding and I never expected to be recognized for what I do,” says Kathy, who regularly does water aerobics at the Y. “It’s a good feeling to help others. I cried when they told me I was one of the volunteers of the year. You just do it. If more people did it, the world would be a better place.”

Kathy and Jim recently moved from Almaden where they lived for 34 years, to Evergreen.

—By Miranda Schultz