20th Anniversary of MATCH-UP Interfaith Volunteers

A Heart of Gold: Celebrating 20 Years of Service
By Ryan McCoy

After months of hard work and preparation by board, staff, and MATCH-UP’s Development Committee, on April 12th, 2005, MATCH-UP celebrated its 20th Anniversary with a program called Heart of Gold at Suffolk Law School. 150 people attended the event, which featured Rhonda Mann from WCVB-TV News as MC, guest speaker Dr. Timothy Johnson (right) — the respected doctor, author and minister who is Medical Editor for ABC News and has appeared on 20/20 as a medical correspondent — and a talk from our own Strong for Life volunteer Elizabeth Coe and her match, Sarah Spiegel.

The evening began with guests mingling over drinks and an eclectic mix of foods donated from local restaurants. The food was presented by Suffolk’s catering staff on long tables covered with colorful cloth and large dark green leaves garnishing the many dishes. The room sang with an ensemble of friendly voices in conversation before the program officially got underway. Following a gracious welcome by Board President, Kay Paine and MC, Rhonda Mann, Elizabeth Coe and her match, Sarah Spiegel spoke articulately and from the heart about their special relationship that formed as a result of MATCH-UP. As Elizabeth noted in her speech, she and Sarah initially signed on for a one-year commitment to do the Strong for Life exercise program, but that commitment and their friendship grew “neither of us knew how to keep track of time because like the Energizer bunny we just kept on going and it will be two full years in June 2005 and then we head to June 2006.” Elizabeth and Sarah meet each Wednesday and “attempt to solve the problems in our building, the West End, Boston and the rest of the world. ... Then we decide we had better exercise. ...” The audience thoroughly enjoyed hearing about Elizabeth and Sarah’s MATCH-UP experience.

Janet Seckel-Cerrotti then addressed the audience to present the 2005 David Libby Award to the Donoghue family (left) for their unwavering support to their match of 17 years, Mr. Doug Barker. On behalf of his entire family, Mr. Donoghue was humble in acceptance, placing an emphasis on the joy they as a family have received from visiting with their matches over the years. At the encouragement of Ms. Mann, other volunteers in the audience, including Sister Madeline Gallagher, Giovanna Tapia, and our own Betsaida Gutierrez shared feelings and stories about their matches as well.

After a heartfelt introduction by Ms. Mann, Dr. Timothy Johnson took to the podium and delivered an eloquent speech about kindness and faith, interspersed with both seriousness and humor. In his message of service to others, caring, and how at the end of days we will ultimately be judged by our actions towards those in need, Dr. Johnson spoke of his own personal experience with his daughter who growing up was not interested in going to church or following an organized religion, even though her father was a minister. Yet now an adult, she lives her faith on a daily basis as evidenced through the fact that each year she uses her entire vacation time to help others in need, working in a camp for children with disabilities. Dr. Johnson’s message of reaching out to people in need of caring support resonated with MATCH-UP volunteers and constituents who do just that on a daily basis by choosing to give of their time and talents to help elders and adults with disabilities. The crowd received Dr. Johnson’s message warmly, and many stood in line for a chance to meet the man personally and to have him sign their copy of his latest book, Finding God in the Questions.

Liz Babiarz, the Director of Volunteer Programs, concluded the memorable evening with a presentation featuring pictures from our photojournalism exhibit set to The Glory of Love sung by Bette Midler, “As long as there’s the two of us, we’ve got the world and all it’s charms. And when the world is through with us, we’ve got each other’s arms.” As people drank coffee and picked desserts from the newly stocked tables, or filed out with smiles on their faces, Liz received many compliments — more than a few of them teary-eyed. The evening was a great success from start to finish thanks to our wonderful crowd, speakers and the enduring essence of MATCH-UP’s mission. Over the last twenty years, MATCH-UP too has been a great success bringing our caring support to over 12,000 elders and adults with disabilities. We look forward to continued success in the next 20 years.

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