April Buddy-to-Buddy Newsletter

Celebrating National Volunteer Month

Dear Volunteers,

April is National Volunteer Month, and what better way to celebrate than by coming together to recognize your contributions to our program at the annual Volunteer Recognition Event on April 29th in Lansing? We value the opportunity to honor you because your outstanding work is what allows Buddy-to-Buddy to make a significant impact on the the lives of veterans throughout Michigan.

Stephanie Zarb, Buddy-to-Buddy Program Manager

We have already heard back from many of you about attending, but if you haven't had a chance to RSVP yet, please check your calendars and either fill out the RSVP form here or contact Margy Howes at [email protected] or (734) 998-5824.

Thank you for volunteering your time, talents, and heart with us. We look forward to seeing you.

Stephanie Zarb
Program Manager

Volunteer Veteran of the Month

Bob Short was our Volunteer of the Month for March! Bob first trained into the program in July 2010 and is one of the program’s longest continuously serving volunteers. Not only has he done outstanding work assisting numerous veterans, Bob has done a tremendous job recruiting many other volunteers. Read more about Bob...

New Volunteers

We welcomed the following volunteers to our team this month:

Eduardo Calzada-Ortiz served 22 years in the Army. He has a Bachelor's degree and a Master of Divinity. He works as a Veterans Mental Health Services Navigator for Genesee County. He lives in Flint.

Ryan Kenerson served six years in the Army. He has a Bachelor's in Exercise Science, has worked as a personal trainer, and is currently applying to medical school. He lives in Clarkston.

Jereme Olson served seven years in the Army. He has a Bachelor's degree and an MBA. He lives in Cadillac.

Top Log Submitters

The top log submissions in March:

Robert Calhoun - 21

Steve Alguire - 16
Joe McClellan - 13

Nathan Cross - 10
Gary Radomski - 10

Most events attended and logged in March:

Alfonse VanHese - 5

Thank you for taking the time to submit your logs and using the website to communicate with us. These submissions are key in helping us continue to serve Michigan’s veterans.

This Month's Training Anniversaries

The following volunteers are celebrating their training anniversaries with the program this month:

Four Years
Darcy Capitano

Three Years
John Snyder

Thank you for your service!

Farewell to Valeria Shipp

Valeria Shipp, Buddy-to-Buddy Outreach Coordinator, has resigned her position. We want to thank Valeria for her many contributions to the program, and wish her all the best in her future endeavors. For now, if you have any questions about outreach activities, or want to attend an event, please contact Stephanie at (734) 998-5829 or [email protected] or Heidi at (734) 998-5825 or [email protected].

Send Us Your Service Photos for Our Recognition Event Slideshow!

As in years past, we will have a slideshow featuring photos of Buddy-to-Buddy volunteers from your active duty days at the Volunteer Recognition Event. We would like to add more of these pictures to this collection. If you have any photos of yourself from when you served, please email them to us or mail hard copies (our address is listed at the bottom of this message) and we’ll include them in this year’s slideshow. We’ll return any originals, of course.

Ron Springer at Fort Knox in June 1969

2016 Year in Review

The 2016 Year in Review is ready for you to view! We are excited to share this document that showcases the wonderful work you do as Volunteer Veterans. If you attend the Volunteer Recognition Event, you will receive a printed copy of it there. View the 2016 Year in Review...

Buddy-to-Buddy Pics

Dee Harris and Mark Reynolds at a stand down event

Gary Radomski, Stephanie Zarb, and Margy Howes at the Big House 5K packet pick-up

Robert Calhoun, Alyssa Wealty, Crystal Bersche, Heidi Frankenhauser, and Richie Roberts at the Big House 5K

Do you have pictures to share? Send them to us!

Where Will We Be This Month?

Click here to view a calendar of events that Volunteer Veterans will be attending on behalf of Buddy-to-Buddy. This calendar gets updated on a regular basis and we encourage you to refer to it frequently.

If there are any events throughout the state that you think might be good for Buddy-to-Buddy to have a table at, please email us at [email protected] or call (734) 998-5825.

Buddy-to-Buddy is part of Military Support Programs and Networks (M-SPAN), a portfolio of military mental health programs within the University of Michigan Depression Center.