Type of service: Youth mentoring
Connecticut employees: 20
Headquarters: Hartford
Top executive: Laura Greene, CEO
Winning category: Nonprofit volunteer of the year
Steven Schutzer, the Volunteer of the Year, has been a mentor for Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters for 10 years.
He has been mentoring Patrick, a 19-year-old high school senior from Hartford’s inner city since Patrick was nine. Schutzer has come to know Patrick and his family well — as a friend and as an advocate. The positive influence Schutzer has had in Patrick’s life has made all the difference, said Laura Greene, CEO of Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters, adding that Patrick is planning on attending college in the fall.
“Steven believes in the potential of every human being,’’ Greene said. “He believes that people need only the opportunity to achieve their potential. His approach to young people is one of genuine interest, of honesty and curiosity. He wanted to be a part of Patrick’s life to help Patrick realize his potential.’’
Schutzer’s tradition of service to others is long standing, said Greene. He is an orthopedic surgeon and clinical associate professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Connecticut, and a former U.S. naval officer who received the Meritorious Service Award. For 10 years, Schutzer was the physician for the Windsor High School athletic teams, among other activities. Earlier this year, he traveled to Haiti following the devastating January earthquake to render medical aid and other assistance.
Schutzer said that he views this award as a way to highlight the work Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters accomplishes through its mentoring program and the need for others to become involved as mentors.
“I am very deeply honored and humbled by being named the recipient of this award. I don’t view the time I’ve spent with Patrick over the years as “volunteerism” but rather a personal commitment and obligation from someone who has been simply blessed with something to offer and serve back to someone who has not, by luck, been as fortunate,” he said.
Big Brothers Big Sisters began in New York City in 1906. It wasn’t until 1966 that Connecticut’s first agency opened in Middletown, said Greene. Today, in addition to its Hartford location, there are branches in Bridgeport and New London. The organization provides mentors to children from age six through 18, or until they graduate from high school.
“We serve 111 of Connecticut’s 169 cities and towns from our office,” Greene said. “We’re in Hartford, Windham, Litchfield, Middlesex and upper New Haven counties.”
When Greene began with Hartford’s Nutmeg Big Brothers Big Sisters in 1994 as executive director, the agency was providing mentors to about 600 children a year.
“Today,” she said, “We operate on a budget of about $1.6 million. We’re matching 1,800 children with mentors each year and we have a waiting list of 300 children.”
Partners play a big role in helping provide mentors and support, Greene said. Comcast, for instance, provides employees who mentor children in New Britain’s Lincoln Elementary School. Other corporations do the same. The Prince Hall Masons, Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the Jaycees and the Rev. Cornell Lewis’ Men of Color Initiative have also been great sources of mentors and fund raising assistance, she said.
