"The Burt & Barbara’s Gifts of the Heart program is very important to us and our clients every year...Many of our clients are older and don’t have much family involvement, the program helps us make their holiday’s special."
Michele Savino, Former Director of Residential Services
Burt and Barbara's Gifts of the Heart
Burt and Barbara's Gifts of the Heart
Burt and Barbara's Gifts of the Heart, while especially crucial during the holiday season, is a year-round program that helps ensure adults in our care who live by themselves, have no involved family, or run the risk of being alone on special occasions like birthdays, will not be forgotten. Recipients of these gifts include adults with behavioral health issues, HIV/AIDS or intellectual disabilities, as well as veterans and the elderly.
How to Participate:
- COLLECT. Hold a gift drive collecting small, thoughtful gifts such as hats, scarves, gloves, cozy blankets, perfumes/colognes or puzzle books (like crosswords). Email volunteers@voa-gny.org to learn how you can get involved.
- DONATE. You can also donate online and your contribution will help bring joy to those we serve through one of our Gifts of the Heart initiatives.
- FUNDRAISE. Support VOA-Greater New York this holiday season by fundraising with your organization. Your donations will help us brighten the lives of adults in our residential programs. Set up a fundraising team.
In light of COVID-19, we are doing things differently this year. Reach out to learn how you can help – email volunteers@voa-gny.org.
We are always grateful for gifts of cash as it allows us the flexibility to use it where it is most needed. Alternatively, feel free to give us a call, let us know how you would like to direct your gift and we can take your credit card over the phone and ensure it will be used to brighten the holidays of someone in need.
The Story of Burt and Barbara
Burt and Barbara were residents of Willowbrook State School, an institution that until the 1980s housed more than 5,000 residents. A 1972 exposé by Geraldo Rivera revealed the inhumane conditions at the school, including physical and sexual abuse, and showed residents left unfed, unwashed and unattended for days on end.
Barbara and Burt spent nearly half their lives at Willowbrook State School on Staten Island where the institution’s neglect and maltreatment of its 6,000 residents made it a national icon of shame.
The couple met in 1978 — the year Willowbrook closed permanently — when both moved to Volunteers of America’s community-based homes for adults with developmental disabilities. They met on the bus that took them to their respective jobs at a sheltered workshop, and they fell in love. It took seven years, with Volunteers of America advocating on their behalf, for the state to grant them permission to wed, and on June 8, 1985, they did just that. The groom was 59 and the bride 42. Burt and Barbara celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary this past June 2017.
A few years ago, Burt found himself in the hospital on Valentine’s Day and his only worry was that he did not have a present for Barbara. He gave a nurse $5.00, all the money he had, to buy something at the hospital gift store. When he presented the gift and the card to Barbara, she was thrilled.
Burt and Barbara were blessed to find each other, but there are many others in our community who do not have family or the resources to make the holidays. Volunteers of America is a lifeline for thousands of people who might otherwise be alone in the world including older adults living alone and with limited means, adults with special needs including veterans with acquired brain injuries, and adults with developmental disabilities like Burt and Barbara.
Burt and Barbara’s Gifts of the Heart program helps ensure that every older adult in our care who lives by themselves, has no involved family, and runs the risk of being alone during the holidays, will not be forgotten.