Retired Teacher Finds Three Ways to Support the Community

Meet Daily Point of Light Award honoree Charlotte Soracoe. Read her story, and nominate an outstanding volunteer or family as a Daily Point of Light. 

Charlotte is a 73-year-old retired teacher who is now dedicating her time to several nonprofit organizations in Baltimore. Charlotte taught for 31 years at Baltimore County Public Schools, another 10 years at a local community college and another five years at several nursery schools. After Charlotte retired in 2015, she began volunteering for The Casey Cares Foundation, Meals on Wheels and the Helping Up Mission, as well as her church. She loves to travel, but that hasn’t gotten in the way of helping others. Just this year, Charlotte volunteered over 500 hours at Casey Cares alone.  

The Casey Cares Foundation is a nonprofit with a mission to improve the lives of critically ill children and their families. The organization started in Baltimore and now operates several mid-Atlantic states, Florida and parts of the Midwest. Casey Cares volunteers help uplift the spirits of hospitalized children and their families through care packages, movie nights, live shows, sporting events and other local excursions. This adds a personal, caring touch to an otherwise difficult and emotional experience. 

What inspires you to volunteer? 

God has given me a great life and it’s my time to give of myself. I love children and was inspired by Casey Cares’ mission to provide uplifting activities and birthday gifts to critically ill children and their families as a way to make a harrowing experience better. I’m also inspired by the effort put in by people who want to improve their lives through education. 

Tell us about your various volunteer roles. 

 We help the families while their kids are being treated. We work with children with sickle cell anemia, cancer and other serious diseases. We provide resources such as tickets for Baltimore Orioles games, zoo visits, and a movie night where we provide popcorn and pajamas. In fact we call ourselves the “Pajama People.” We have collected and donated over 10,000 pairs of pajamas to local hospitals. The pajamas are mainly for the hospitalized kids, but if the parents or family has come from out of state, we also have adult pajamas for them since many of the parents never leave their kids’ sides.      

I am in charge of the Casey Cares birthday program, Birthday Blast. There are currently about 1,200 kids in the program and I’m in charge of making sure each child receives a birthday gift. This year we are giving them toys such as a small basketball hoop and ball, or teddy bears. I package the gifts and send out 30 to 40 gifts each week. In August, I will be helping with a 5K fun run to raise funds for Casey Cares.   

We aren’t as big as Make-a-Wish but we do what we can locally, based on what the family is interested in. Anything to make the experience more normal. We follow the family for a year, whether the child is discharged from Johns Hopkins Hospital or passes away. I volunteer about five hours each week with Casey Cares.  

Since 2015, I’ve also been active with Meals on Wheels. I’ve volunteered at least once a week to deliver meals from our local distribution center. Meals-on-Wheels does so much more than deliver meals. We provide companionship to help promote independence for seniors who wish to stay in their homes. These folks often have nobody to talk to. Many suffer from loneliness, anxiety and depression because of the isolation.     

I also volunteer at Baltimore’s Helping Up Mission, which supports people living with addiction and homelessness. I’m part of their tutoring program. I mainly tutor math but sometimes English. Our emphasis is on helping people get their GED.     

I am also part of an outreach group with my church. We do various service projects in the community throughout the year. We recently did an ice cream social at the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents (RICA), a mental health residential facility for children up to 18 years old. The kids loved the ice cream social! 

What’s been the most rewarding part of your work? 

I love seeing the work that I put in yield results. I enjoy volunteering at Casey Cares, but there I’m mostly in the office with very little interaction with the pediatric patients and their families.  

I really enjoy Meals on Wheels. The people look forward to us coming and spending a bit of time with them. I care about them, and they care about me!      

I also love my tutoring work. I feel that education is the key to moving on in the world. My tutoring students are mostly unhoused individuals. Sometimes they were dealt a blow or they made some poor decisions, but they are working hard to get back on their feet, starting with an education. I’ve had students comment to me that they wish they hadn’t wasted their high school years. They regret not having gotten their high school diploma, but they are committed to it now. 

What have you learned through your experiences as a volunteer? 

Even the little things matter! I have learned through Meals On Wheels that there are so many isolated seniors. They are determined to stay in their homes, where they want to be, but rely on outside help. They are starved for companionship. People can change as they get older. I have learned the importance of never giving up on them! I have also become much more aware of people who are isolated and desperately need connection. 

Any advice for people who want to start volunteering? 

Talk to people who volunteer to get ideas for what to do. Go online and Google “volunteer opportunities near me” and then follow your heart. Go where you feel you have skills to add. You’ll come up with so many ways to help! 

What do you want people to learn from your story? 

It’s important to give of yourself. If you are blessed in any way or you’ve had good things happen to you, it behooves you to lend a helping hand. You will be rewarded 100% more. As you get older, it is also important to feel that you matter. 

Do you want to make a difference in your community like Charlotte? Find local volunteer opportunities.