Name: Paul Betti
Town of residence: Hudson
Which UWTC program(s) have you volunteered for?
- Marlborough Community Cupboard
- Tools for School
- Hope for the Holidays
How Long Have You Been Volunteering here? 10+ years
Do you volunteer regularly or occasionally? Regularly (every Wednesday)
Why did you decide to volunteer? I wanted to give back to the community that I live and work in
How did you decide to volunteer with us? My previous company, Intel, always did a lot with United Way. When I retired I decided to keep up the volunteering.
What do you do when you volunteer? On Wednesdays I either do fruit/vegetable distribution or help with client intake. Other volunteer events include Hope for the Holidays where my team does gift distribution as well as the Post Office & Boy Scout food drives.
How does volunteering make you feel? Wonderful. I get to feel like I'm giving back.
Why do you think it's important for people to volunteer? There are many reasons why different people need help, so if you have the time and means you should give back. It would be a better world if people thought of others before they thought of themselves.
If you work, can you tell us where and what you do? I now work for the state at the Dept. of Fire Services, I'm a training coordinator and we train all firefighters in the state of Massachusetts.
If you are retired, what did you do before? I retired from Intel, I was a process engineer and I ran the site’s Volunteer team.
Tell us a story of a time when you knew your volunteering made a difference.:
My team at Intel would build bicycles and donate them to United Way's Hope for the Holidays program. I would then volunteer during the gift distribution and see the families that actually receive the bikes knowing that a child would not have had a bicycle to wake up to on Christmas morning without what we did. That is when I was very proud of what we did because of the difference we made to that family and that child.
What's your best advice for someone interested in volunteering? Show up and try a new task, then keep showing up, keep helping others.