5/3/2012 - West Side Leader
     

To the editor:

In 1958, 13 of Bath’s community-minded ladies founded Bath Volunteers for Service (BVS). Since that time, our members have been responsible for starting what is now known as the Fairlawn/Bath Branch Library and initiating the development of Bath Community Activity Center, the first park in Bath.

BVS members assist the Bath Fire Department with the Bath Horse Show, sponsor two local American Red Cross blood drives a year, and provide major sponsorship to Bath Community Day. In addition, our members are continually collecting items for many area organizations that assist people who have fallen on hard times — from the Battered Women’s Shelter to this country’s veterans.

Through the fundraising efforts and volunteer work of our generous members, BVS is able to help fund Shop With a Cop, Victim Assistance Program, Tuesday Musical, Crown Point Ecology Center, Victory Gallop, HM Life Opportunity Services, Mobile Meals, Revere High School’s (RHS) Academic Challenge team, RHS PTSA, Revere Middle School, Richfield Senior Center, Summit County Safety Forces Chaplaincy Center, and Young Graduates Inc., among many more.

Our proudest accomplishment is our ongoing scholarships awarded annually to students living within the Revere School District, regardless of whether they attend Revere High School or not. BVS awards four $750 one-time scholarships yearly, totaling $3,000. We also award one $4,000 scholarship annually (paid out over four years). Five other recipients receive scholarships for merit awards in volunteerism as our way to encourage volunteerism as a life-long gift of giving.

We accept requests for allocations every December, and the most challenging part for BVS is deciding who shall receive the funding we have to disperse. Those annual disbursements are decided based on where our funds will do the most good.

In the past 13 years we have been raising funds, BVS has been able to donate $341,885. In the past five years alone, BVS has been able to allocate  $129,288 to nonprofits, schools, PTAs, charitable organizations and those in need within our community.

Where does BVS get the money they annually allocate?

Primarily, from our one and only major fundraiser — the annual BVS Home Tour every May.

My invitation to you is please come and enjoy our Home Tour. You will be treated to some of the area’s most amazing homes and gardens as generous homeowners open up their beautiful homes for all to see and enjoy. You will enjoy a delicious box lunch and fashion show. You can check out some of the area’s extraordinary vendors, and while you are having an enjoyable day, you will also know that your ticket cost goes to support many worthy, local programs and organizations.

Our 35th BVS Home Tour takes place May 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Ticket sales are now under way, and you can find ticket information on our website at www.bathvolunteersforservice.com.

We hope to see you at the Bath Volunteers for Service Home Tour. Your participation makes possible our commitment to volunteer service, which is dedicated to bettering the lives of adults and children in our community.

Nadine Clar, president, Bath Volunteers for Service

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