{"id":21183,"date":"2025-10-29T12:38:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/21183\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T12:38:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T12:38:08","slug":"9-11-inspired-this-staten-islander-to-volunteer-for-20-years-and-counting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/21183\/","title":{"rendered":"9\/11 inspired this Staten Islander to volunteer for 20 years and counting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"RDW6JVMTSNDG7DEWWIQP765DTU\">STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Borough President Vito Fossella honored longtime volunteer Linda Lo on Friday at Borough Hall for her decades of service and dedication to giving back and helping those in need across Staten Island. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"MMEW5I75YBFKFBARJIGIXFWZZU\">Lo, a Graniteville resident, has spent more than 20 years volunteering at food pantries, soup kitchens and other charities across Staten Island, including Catholic Charities of Staten Island, Blue Star Families, New York Cares, and AmeriCorps Seniors. She was recently recognized by NY1 as \u201cNew Yorker of the Week\u201d for her longtime commitment to serving others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"OODAEONZQFGFFGBP5PFGZ5KVOE\">At the celebration, Fossella expressed his gratitude to Lo for her years of service and dedication to helping communities across Staten Island, saying he wanted to highlight her selflessness and commitment to others. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"XU7B24UYAFHW7KWMZXF2ELFLNA\">\u201cEvery time one person steps in, it makes a difference \u2014 and Linda, you have made a difference, and we say thank you,\u201d Fossella said.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Staten Island honors longtime volunteer Linda Lo at Borough Hall ceremony\" class=\"hero-image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/M365LH4HEFAKXGLDPSOXZRQPOE.HEIC\"\/>Linda Lo, Borough President Vito Fossella, nonprofit organization members, and friends pictured together at Lo&#8217;s celebration event on Friday at Borough Hall.Courtesy of Pete Trivelas of the Staten Island Borough President&#8217;s Office<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"NHA6CKEBABGJNI6KZY6SWQ6IZ4\">Nonprofit leaders, friends, and family joined Lo at Borough Hall last week to celebrate her years of service. Her friends praised her for always stepping up when help was needed, calling her a \u201cLinda of all volunteer trades\u201d for her dedication to a wide range of causes across Staten Island.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"AQFBMOWQYZDFTF2EGGMW4UQ4ZY\">Lo began volunteering over 20 years ago, before her retirement. She expressed how the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, sparked her journey to help others. This motivated her to find ways to give back beyond donating blood to victims and their families.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"P3NV6TKA6JFQHBOBCTCNMKMBYY\">After 9\/11, Lo wanted to continue volunteering, but was juggling a full-time job and raising her children. One day, she came across an article about the nonprofit Helping Hands and began volunteering once a month at the St. Edward\u2019s food pantry in the Pleasant Plains community. She said she thoroughly enjoyed the experience and knew she wanted to continue helping others. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"L26UNKA35VHLHE6WQAM33YOKCA\">Since retiring, Lo volunteers several times a week at different organizations, dedicating more time to helping people in need across Staten Island. \u201cIt\u2019s something that keeps you motivated,\u201d she said, describing the joy she feels in giving back and the connections she has made within her community.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"6KBHN27BBNHR7MUU2LK5MXBNBI\">When asked why helping others is so important to her, Lo said it not only brings fulfillment, but also helps her stay active both mentally and physically. She noted that the physical labor involved in volunteering is especially beneficial for her as a diabetic. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"QJB2ITJHEBES5K64HQLDZIQ5ZI\">Lo said she was shocked and overwhelmed by the recognition she received from Fossella. \u201cI never thought something like this would happen,\u201d she said. She said she hopes her recognition shows that anyone can volunteer and play an active role in their communities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"WZUY5YMR5JEZJLVJQAB5CPITFU\">Lo encourages anyone who wants to start volunteering but isn\u2019t sure where to begin to just take the first step and research different organizations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"GILBJT7JUBFFHANGGLLMDMW5UE\">She noted there are many ways to get involved, such as through New York Cares, helping individuals with their taxes through AARP, tutoring and teaching children at local organizations, and much more.<\/p>\n<p>If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancelocal.com\/advancelocalUserAgreement\/user-agreement.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.advancelocal.com\/advancelocalUserAgreement\/privacy-policy.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Borough President Vito Fossella honored longtime volunteer Linda Lo on Friday at Borough Hall&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-21183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}