Timothy can't stop volunteering

"Volunteer service is something I don't just like to do; it's something I need to do," said Timothy Driscoll.

The sophomore at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady is a dedicated volunteer:

* at the Double H Ranch in Lake Luzerne (a "Hole-in-the-Wall" camp for children with serious illnesses and disabilities), he works with the adaptive ski program; and

* at the Schenectady City Mission, he recently received the first-ever youth leadership award for tutoring inner-city students in math and reading in a summer program.

Timothy told The Evangelist that he plans to continue his work as a volunteer "probably all the way through school" and even after graduation.

The City Mission's summer program "helps keep [kids] off the street," noted the teen, who also serves meals at the City Mission during the school year.

During the winter, Timothy spends time at the Double H Ranch, helping severely handicapped children have fun skiing and snowboarding. After only one season there, he said that helping those with illnesses like cerebral palsy, autism, hemophilia, cancer, HIV/AIDS and spina bifida to experience winter sports has been a gift that he never expected to receive.

"These kids are awesome," he enthused.

Timothy had waited patiently to become a volunteer in the skiing program for several years. "You have to be at least 16 years old to become a junior instructor, so I had to wait until last fall," he explained.

After his birthday, he immediately enrolled in the program and began volunteer training on several types of adaptive ski apparatus for persons with disabilities.

"The 'bi-seat ski' is used for the more severely handicapped students who have a range of some control to no mobility. The child is completely strapped into a seat mounted on two skis. The instructor straps onto the seat where the student sits. Together, they ski down the slopes," he explained.

"The 'mono-ski' is for kids who have some control over their arms and can usually steer it. They have to have very strong upper body strength to control the outriggers."

A "slider ski" is used by children with mild disabilities who can lean into turns to steer.

Through volunteering, Timothy has learned that "we take our health for granted. Working with these kids has taught me a lot about courage. They have touched me so deeply.

"My very first student, Lily, made an indelible impression on me the first time we went down the hill. When I saw her face and heard her laughter as we flew down the hill, I knew I was going to be doing this for a long time."

(The Double H Ranch was co-founded by actor Paul Newman and Adirondack developer/restauranteur Charles R. Wood. For information on both summer and winter
programs, go to www.doublehranch.org.)

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