Sarah Cohen, a local massage therapist, has taken President Obama’s call for more volunteerism and put her own twist on it. Starting a program she calls Helping Our Helpers, she’s trying to reward members of the community who donate their valuable time, effort and talent to a need or cause without profiting monetarily.
The program started March 1 and runs through April 25, 2009. During these weeks, volunteers and employees of local nonprofit organizations will be able to earn money off of a massage with the work that they already are doing. The program was designed not only to inspire people to volunteer in the community, but to reward the thousands who already volunteer on a regular basis with no expectations of reward or recognition.
“I watched President Obama when he kicked off his ‘Renew America Together’ initiative in January,” Sarah Cohen says, “His message is that every individual can make a difference, that we have a responsibility to make a difference. And that’s something that rang very true for me.”
Cohen has a family tradition of community involvement and volunteerism. With both parents involved in New Hampshire nonprofit organizations designed to help their communities, she grew up understanding that community service is a responsibility as well as a privilege. As a licensed massage therapist, Cohen has been involving herself in many different charity events for years now. She’s donated to Bridges NH, the Boys' & Girls' Club, NHPTV and Autism Speaks, among others.
“Normally, I’ll donate chair massage services at an event, or gift certificates for a fund-raising auction,” she says, “But those donations go to help raise funds for the organization. While I’m not going to stop doing that, I really wanted to come up with a way to thank the volunteers and nonprofit employees directly.”
And so, Helping Our Helpers was born. After speaking with different friends and community workers, Cohen came up with an incentive program for massage therapy. Every ten hours volunteered (or fifteen hours of paid work) would earn the worker ten dollars off of a one-hour massage. To give potential volunteers even more incentive to help their community, Cohn has made these benefits cumulative, up to $30 off per hour.
"I know that I can’t change the world overnight," says Cohen. "But I can do my part to try. If only 5 people decide to volunteer in order to take advantage of this program, that’s five volunteers who weren’t involved a month ago."
For additional information about Helping Our Helpers, contact Sarah Cohen or visit www.scohenLMT.com.
About Sarah Cohen:
A graduate of McIntosh College in Dover, NH, Sarah Cohen is licensed in the State of New Hampshire as a Massage Therapist. Practicing for over 4 years in New Hampshire, Sarah takes great pride in the therapeutic massage that she performs. Her family background in community service programs has inspired her to do many volunteer and charity fundraising events for local nonprofits.
Contact:
Sarah Cohen, Owner
Sarah Cohen, LMT
603-493-1242
http://www.scohenLMT.com
