“You cannot get through a
single day without having an
impact on the world around
you. What you do makes a
difference, and you must decide
what kind of difference you want
to make.”
—Jane Goodall
If time is taken to delve into our community, the reward will be how lucky we are to have attracted such good and caring people — people who want to make a difference.
It’s been less than 10 years that Judy and Dave Beningson found their way to make Waitsfield their permanent home. It happened, in part, with the opportunity to buy a beautiful property, Judy’s working remotely and an offer from Green Mountain Valley School for Dave to come on board as a physics teacher. Additionally, Nathan, their younger son, was about to graduate from his high school in Massachusetts — a perfect storm! A few years later, Judy took on the job, when asked, of heading the Mad River Valley Interfaith Council Thanksgiving Basket drive that, at that time, fed some 60 families. Today she and her committee confront the challenge of helping over 100 homes, encompassing 500 people, to have all they need for a traditional holiday meal. Several committee meetings occur during the process to guarantee success.
With many volunteers aiding the effort with publicity, gathering food and financial contributions, sorting donations, shopping for short falls and all the necessary goods needed for preparation and delivery, it is a huge job dependent solely on volunteer and community support. Judy is happy to take the reins but is saddened that so many more people are needing help. The brunt of the effort happens as Thanksgiving nears and any missing basket components need to be purchased before assembling the baskets, gathering, and assigning the turkeys and making the deliveries throughout The Valley.
Once the day before the holiday comes and everything has been delivered, Judy can think about her own family and the time they will gratefully share around the table. A few days later her thoughts will center on her imminent retirement from her strategic and product management consulting career just as she marks a turn into a new decade. Surely a lot going on, but it is not hard to imagine she will handle all the changes with aplomb.
Congratulations, happy milestone birthday and thank you Judy for shepherding such a meaningful project through six years of enhancing life in our Mad River Valley.
