Volunteer Spotlight on Sydney Gross!
Sydney Gross volunteers at the JMM at the Front Desk and in the Shop. She is new to our volunteer corps but has always found a way to fit volunteering into her busy life. From an early age, her parents instilled in her, the importance of giving back to one’s community. While growing up she made lasagna for bereaved families and for the nearby homeless shelter, she participated in outdoor cleanup efforts, she used her Spanish language skills to assist community members in filling out assistance forms which qualified them for free warehouse goods, and also as a 1st grade teacher in a local Sunday school in her native North Carolina.
Sydney works full time as the Volunteer Coordinator for Caring Carroll which strives to enable older, frail, isolated and disabled senior citizens in Carroll County to remain living independently. In this AmeriCorps position she recruits, trains, and manages volunteers. AmeriCorps members themselves are recruited, trained and positioned in communities to meet critical needs in education, public safety, health, and the environment. The organization places thousands of young adults into intensive service positions where they learn valuable work skills, earn money for education, and develop an appreciation for citizenship. Sydney moved to Baltimore upon graduation with a Bachelor’s degree in Latin American Studies, from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, to be with her fiancé Ben, who teaches Mathematics at Stevenson University.
In her spare time, Sydney enjoys knitting, reading, and being outdoors – in particular camping and running. She runs half marathons and endeavors to race in each of the 50 states. So far she has completed nine races in seven different states. Her next race is later this month and takes place in Alabama.
Sydney is new to Baltimore. She found out about the Jewish Museum of Maryland through a complimentary annual membership offered through Shalom Baltimore, a program of the Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, which welcomes newcomers to the Baltimore Jewish community. She and Ben are enjoying exploring Baltimore and the surrounding areas, especially the restaurants which, as a vegetarian, can sometimes present a challenge. We are certainly glad that Sydney chose to explore the Jewish Museum of Maryland and that volunteering with us fit in to her new life in Baltimore. We welcome Sydney and other volunteers to be part of the JMM. Please visit jewishmuseummd.org for more information on volunteering with us.
A blog post by Volunteer Coordinator Ilene Cohen. Every month she will be highlighting one of our fantastic JMM volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering with the JMM, drop her an email at icohen@jewishmuseummd.org or call 410-732-6402 x217! You can also get more information about volunteering at the Museum here.