NO GREATER WEALTH
Published Great South Bay Magazine
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| Volunteers with Church Food Donations |
NO GREATER WEALTH
Published Great South Bay Magazine
There is no greater wealth found
Than in the silent peaceful sound
When taking your own life’s path
Absent of false worship on behalf
Of wealth, materialism and greed
There can be no lesser creed
With all the money sought
Love cannot be brought
Seek to measure real life’s worth
By way of peace and love on earth
Aim to live a life to share
Giving your love, help, and care
Help a neighbor and volunteer
Needy people are always near
In the end it will make sense
Life is more than dollars and cents
Susan Marie Davniero
NY DAILY NEWS
SERIES ON COMMUNITY SERVICE
PUBLISHED NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Reaching Out Community Services Food Pantry
Daily News
readers are answering the call to community service since Help NYC launched
last month.“We're getting donations! Amazing! ” says Susan LaRosa
at the Henry Street Settlement’s Good Companions Senior Center, which feeds
aging lower East Side residents lunch and dinner six days a week.
“I just want to say thank you,” adds Thomas Neve
from Reaching Out Community Services, a food pantry in Bensonhurst. “Many
people for the first time came to recognize the service we provide in their
community.”
The NYC
Coalition Against Hunger released new research reporting that 500,000 city
children — or one in four kids — live in homes that are food insecure.This has
overwhelmed food pantries and soup kitchens across the boroughs, which saw
demand rise 12% this year as more working men and women join the food lines to
make ends meet between paychecks.
Good
Shepherd Services’ Red Hook Beacon Community Center — one of 80 city Beacon
Centers aiding kids and adults in underserved communities — lost 50 slots from
their afterschool program as a result of budget cuts.
The Daily
News has highlighted neighbors helping neighbors over the past four weeks, This giving spirit is best summed up by
Daily News reader Susan Marie Davniero from Lindenhurst, who writes, “We are
all in one family. Help your neighbor. Try to leave the world a little better
than how you found it. One person can make a difference, after all.”
SHOP TO DROP
Published LI Press
Shopping has become an epidemic that has ransacked our neighborhoods in the pursuit of possession to fulfill one’s ever want. The pastime of shopping impregnated with anticipation to revel with purchases. Greed supersedes the needs, buying luxury, fun and games – to shop to drop. The negative impact of greed has perpetrated our society due to the demise of values that falsely attributes the magnitude of monetary wealth or material possessions pursuant to the intensity of value of one’s life.
The false worship of monetary wealth or possessions abets a materialistic culture buying financial awards to monitor their merit of success. There is a loss sense of personal identity as you are what you are worth. As a result, greed has created an epidemic of obsessive compulsive spending maximizing credit limits, over extending budgets, borrowing and debt to “keep up with the Jones.”
There is a need to essay a kind of familiar that may exist. Fed on celluoid fantasy of the rich Hollywood luxurious lifestyle, or even by your neighbors, irreconcilable demands are on all of us to withstand. I am amiss by the behavioral excessive buying that steals from the true value of one’s life. Ironically one absent of wealth is without the luxury to distort their vision of life with possessions and find their wealth in the true value of life.
Alas, many people have yet to learn the great peace found in the quiet comfort of choosing your own path in life devoid of false worship of material possessions or wealth. I suggest people rewrite their shopping lists prior to their next venture to the stores to eliminate their search to buy happiness. You may not have all that you want but you probably have all that need.
Susan Marie Davniero
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| GIVE! Twins Laura and Susan |
GIVE!
I (Laura Marie Bowman) always wanted to give to others, because I shared my “things” with my twin sister (Susan Marie Davniero). Childhood enabled me to donate my time, energy and finances to charity drives and cake sales. However, upon adulthood and marriage, it became challenging to find resources to share.
My first step was to keep myself healthy. I couldn’t help anyone if I wasn’t in good physical condition. I looked at food as nourishment to maintain good numbers (weight, blood pressure, cholesterol). I was ready to go!
My next stage was to find the means to share. It’s almost impossible to have extra income to donate with monthly bills. I abolished unnecessary expenses; weekend gambling trips and non-essential house improvements. I had the funds!
My final stride was to decide how to share myself with others. I left food boxes anonymously at neighborhood churches. One day a Priest said to me, “You’re the one leaving the boxes – thank you! You don’t know how many needy families are in your own neighborhood.” I realized than I wanted to see the faces of the people I was helping!
I became acquainted with my community’s large or unemployed families by visiting laundry rooms and shopping centers. I distributed everyday necessities (soap, shampoo, cleaning items) in new laundry baskets to families. My ideas increased!
My twin sister, Susan (Davniero) and myself donated in-person to non-profit shelter, church and rehabilitation center; coats, work clothes, gloves, blankets, home furnishings, business suits (used good condition), canned food, grocery bakery items (not sold cake, bread) and coupon (free turkey) holiday promotions.
Every holiday we shared with others! For instance, help serve Church Thanksgiving Dinner or prepare delivered meals, attend Christmas Mass at a Nursing Home, give Mother’s Days presents and hand-made cards to Women Shelters, welcome Veterans at the VA Center, distribute U.S. Flags on 4th of July and sometimes prepare Easter Baskets for hospital patients.
I also speak on behalf of stray cats and submitted a petition (400+ signatures) to the NY State Capital to evaluate animal laws. I rescue stray cats, connect families with pet organizations to stop the repopulation and write stray animal letters printed in local newspapers.
My giving will never stop! GIVE! – make a difference in someone’s life!
Laura Marie Bowman
Dear Robert and Susan,
2013 has been a gratifying year of helping our friends and neighbors on Long Island.
When Sandy barreled down on Long Island in October 2012, it left a path of destruction and despair. With the generous outpouring from more than 4,500 donors to the Hurricane Sandy Long Island Disaster Relief campaign, and matching funds from the McCormick Foundation, $1,669,174 was granted through Newsday Charities to help rebuild the hopes and homes of Long Islanders.
When we published the Report to the Community sharing how we invested your donations restoring our community, nearly 300 donors felt compelled to do even more and gave over $15,000 to help those less fortunate.
Through our Help-A-Family campaign, more than $800,000 will be granted by the end of the year to nonprofit organizations strengthening Long Island. Agencies like:
• New Ground - empowers homeless children by helping them
improve their reading skills.
• Society of St. Vincent de Paul that provides housing for those
in crises
• Island Harvest giving low income kids backpacks filled with
nutritious food to take home for the weekend.
Holiday mood
SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE
Published Pancakes in Heaven
It is truly far better to give than to receive. Give and sacrifice by
helping others and plan to go beyond words. Find your moral compass to radiate
goodwill and social compassion. We are not here to do it alone. Nobody wins
till we all do. In a country as rich as ours no one should do without
Have empathy for the needy, feel someone’s pain. Of all the needs one
has, the one that must be satisfied is hope. Give the forgotten, the poor, the
displaced, and the lonely hope for a better tomorrow. Extend a sincere
handshake, offer a warm smile and listen to a lonely soul. “To listen to someone who has no one to listen to him is a beautiful
thing” said Mother Teresa
“Love your neighbor ” to
volunteer with cheerful visits to hospitals, nursing homes or shut-ins elderly,
feed the hungry at soup kitchens and donate to the less fortunate. Perhaps
someone in your own neighborhood or family needs your help for true charity
starts at home.
My twin sister, Laura and I wanted to see if the word volunteer could
fit us. Neither of us knew how much we had to give but we knew we wanted to
share it. Being identical twins all of our life we learned a long time ago to
“share and share alike” with each other. Through the years Laura and I evoked
an awakening and evolved to share faith, love and charity with others. We put
our faith into action.
Our care spreads from visiting forgotten Veterans of past wars residing
in VA Nursing homes, serving Thanksgiving dinner at charitable faith based soup
kitchens, bringing gifts to unwed teen Mothers shelters (all mothers deserve to
be remembered on Mothers Day not just our own) and distributing contributions
of baked goods donated to Pantry Inns, Teen Rehab Centers and Missions.
“It’s not how much we give, but how much love put in giving,” said
Mother Teresa. Give freely of yourself whatever it may be. The old adage proves
true - money can’t buy you happiness - the best things in life are free after
all. This is your time to leave the world a better place than how you found it.
True wealth is charity, love, giving, and sharing. Helping is its own reward.
For we get to heaven on the arm of the person we’re helping.
Written by Susan
Marie Davniero)
Days of Forgiveness
(Published Write On Magazine)
(Published Write On Magazine)
By Susan Marie Davniero
Borne of morning each day we live
Seek to find the heart to forgive
Broods in sympathy for a day lost
Pierced by hurting words the most
Thanks to compassion found in tears
Fall to grace breaking our fears
When occasions rise for tenderness
These are days of forgiveness
Susan Marie Davniero
Red Dawn
(Published Write On Magazine)
By Susan Marie Davniero
Suddenly it’s Sunday morn
Awaken by light of dawn
From the path to the skies
Fluttering wings passing by
Blush of red dash seen above
Dance within sun light’s cove
Playful flight of nature’s game
Red bird by any other name
Susan Marie Davniero
SAVE THE EARTH
Earth’s quarantine
Besieged air and streams
Poison sensation
Of contamination
Waste chemicals
Lethal materials
Insecticides sprays
Radiation rays
Toxic sites
Nuclear dynamites
Pollution loomed
Nature doomed
Ecology’s birth
Save the earth
Susan Marie Davniero
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| Published Write On Poetry Magazette |
GIVING BACK
I learned there is a great peace in the comfort of choosing your own path in life, devoid of compromise or false worship of material possessions. You may not have all that you want but you may have all that you need. Life is more than money. The greed of self-gratification and wealth pervades our values. The rich and the poor divide, the lines are drawn.
Now is the time to give back. To give and sacrifice, a little bit of that goes a long way. Find a sense of usefulness by helping others and plan to go beyond words. Radiate goodwill and social compassion for others. We are not here to do it alone. No body wins till we all do. Help others, volunteer, have empathy for someone’s pain. Give the forgotten, the poor, the displaced and the lonely hope for a better tomorrow. Of all the needs one has, the one that must be satisfied is hope.
"It's not how much we give, but how much love we put in giving" Mother Teresa
See if the word volunteer could fit you – sharing and caring. Put your words into action volunteering at Panty Inns, Nursing Homes, shelters, Helping your neighbors and caring about others. It is blessing to give of yourself whatever it may be. We may not be able to eliminate pain and suffering from the world, yet we can try to leave the world a better place than how we found it.
My twin sister, Laura Bowman, and I wanted to see is the word volunteer could fit us. Neither of us knew how much we had to give but we knew we wanted to share it. Being twins we learned a long time ago to “share and share alike.” We put our words into action volunteering at Pantry Inns , VA
It is blessed to give of your-self whatever it may be. We may not be able to eliminate pain and suffering from the world, yet we can try to leave the world a better place than how we found it.
Helping is its own reward. For we get to heaven on the arm of the person we’re helping.
Susan Marie Davniero
WORDS OF PEACE
One day
The peaceful way
In a world of sin
Peace starts within
Peace is a must
Help and care
Love to share
No war or wrath
The peaceful path
One day
I pray
War will cease
Let there be peace
And let it begin
With the peace within
Susan Marie Davniero
UNSUNG HEROES ARE THERE
Published Great South Bay Magazine
Published Great South Bay Magazine
Unsung heroes are there
Some who cares
Shares with others
Sisters and brothers
Works for charity
Fights poverty
Provides a remedy
To feed the hungry
Meets all odds
Doing selfless jobs
Civic virtues
Few choose
The road lies
Less traveled by
There goes
The unsung heroes
Susan Marie Davniero
NEWSDAY
CHARITIES
HELP
A FAMILY
Tis the Season for Giving
2013 has been a gratifying year of helping our friends and neighbors on Long Island.
When Sandy barreled down on Long Island in October 2012, it left a path of destruction and despair. With the generous outpouring from more than 4,500 donors to the Hurricane Sandy Long Island Disaster Relief campaign, and matching funds from the McCormick Foundation, $1,669,174 was granted through Newsday Charities to help rebuild the hopes and homes of Long Islanders.
When we published the Report to the Community sharing how we invested your donations restoring our community, nearly 300 donors felt compelled to do even more and gave over $15,000 to help those less fortunate.
Through our Help-A-Family campaign, more than $800,000 will be granted by the end of the year to nonprofit organizations strengthening Long Island. Agencies like:
• New Ground - empowers homeless children by helping them
improve their reading skills.
• Society of St. Vincent de Paul that provides housing for those
in crises
• Island Harvest giving low income kids backpacks filled with
nutritious food to take home for the weekend.
Newsday Charities is a McCormick
Foundation Fund.
The Robert R. McCormick Foundation
Fred Groser
Publisher
Newsday
Publisher
Newsday
SHARE AND SHARE ALIKE
As you live
And give
To others
Sisters and brothers
Feed the hungry
In poverty
Donate food
Serve and volunteer
Far and near
Soup kitchens
Pantry inns
Do your part
It’s a start
See the light
Share and share alike
Susan Marie Davniero
Susan Marie Davniero
LONG ISLAND CARES
Long Island Cares has come to Lindenhurst! Welcome to the neighborhood – Long Island Cares! Suddenly help is just around the corner, at the local LI Cares help center in Lindenhurst.
Apparently Lindenhurst was the chosen new locale to launch their second storefront assistance center given the vicinity of Hurricane Sandy victims and being impressed by the way Lindenhurst pulled together following Hurricane Sandy. Essentially, recovery following the impact of Hurricane Sandy on Suffolk’s South Shore is on the way.
LI Cares goes on distance to meet the recovery needs of Long Islanders. It’s nice to know Long Island cares about my neighborhood. Lindenhurst has not been forgotten. America often aids disaster victims throughout the world. This time America has helped its own people - after all charity begins at home.
We applaud LI Cares organization – they make a difference. Long Island is a better place because of Long Island Cares. Thank you Long Island Cares.
Susan and Robert Davniero
Lindenhurst, Long Island
St Catherine Labouré was born on the 2nd of May 1806 at Fainles-Moutiers, a picturesque village of Burgundy, France. She was the ninth child in a happy family of eleven. God made known the choice of this soul by marking her at an early age with the seal of suffering, for when she was only nine years old she lost her mother.
