​​​​​​Local Residents' Spirit for Volunteerism is Inspiring


​​​​​​Local Residents' Spirit for Volunteerism is Inspiring

 

If you live in the West Essex area, and you have volunteered, chances are pretty good that you have worked with Kathy Pigott of Roseland, who has been running 11 charitable campaigns a year for the homeless, the needy, the soldiers, and more, for 20 years. And as if her volunteer schedule isn't busy enough, during the pandemic, she and her volunteers ran "Sure Shot” where they scheduled hundreds of vaccine appointments for those needing help!

 

Kathy, says she works with 250-300 volunteers a year, and that she is grateful to them and credits them with the success of the endeavors. She says she has found that people really want to volunteer, they just need to know how to find the opportunities. 

 

"We all want to help others and do good, we just need the opportunity,” she says. “My role in the community is to bring people together and provide them with that opportunity.”

 

Incredibly, Kathy runs every project with a  $0 budget. They are all fully run through volunteerism. 

 

Kathy’s high-school sweetheart husband of 35 years, and their daughter, helps with all the community service projects. She says she believes “everyone should volunteer because we are all here to help one another," and notes that “we are very blessed to live in this area, where just 20 miles away, people are starving.”

 

Kathy is so dedicated to her causes that she has a permanent donation box on her driveway. 

 

While she has been doing this charitable work for over 20 years, she feels she has a lot more to give. In fact, when she became disabled in 2000 from ARDS (SARS) and septicemia and was in the ICU for weeks, her husband told the doctors she would pull through because, “you don't know my wife, she has so much more to do!" After three months in the hospital, Kathy came back at 80 percent raring to go! 

 

Kathy says she has received a number of awards from State, local, and other organizations for her devotion to community service but states, “They are wonderful and I'm humbled, but that’s not why I do this. We must help each other and show compassion and respect. I want the world to know I'm Christian by my actions and not by my words.” 

 

"I truly believe life comes full circle, and when you need help, someone will be there to help you," she says.

 

To volunteer, please contact Kathy at 973-768-3512 or at [email protected].

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