AT&T Pioneers - Northeast Chapter 125

06/02/2026

A few years ago, Don, a counselor at the George R. Martin Elementary School in Seekonk, MA, contacted the Northeast Chapter. Many years prior, Pioneers had painted a U.S. map on the school parking lot. The students and teachers frequently used the map and since the resurfacing, the map was greatly missed. Don said they needed a new map and asked if Pioneers still did this type of project? We certainly do! And the ball started rolling! We had to order a new stencil, locate our tax exempt status for MA, find details of how to implement the project, order supplies and enlist volunteers to help w the project. Enter board member, Debby DeVenezia, to chair the project! Debby and Don worked together planning the event. Don and team did some prep work and over Memorial Day weekend the map was completed! Volunteers included teachers, retired teachers, the principal, vice principal, Debby and her husband. Curious students gathered around at recess engaging and asking questions. Another school in the area, got word of the project and wants a map for their parking lot! We are looking into that! A quote from the school, “The map came out awesome, and teachers are excited to go out with kids today to take a look. Everyone at Martin would like to extend their thanks to you and your husband!” Don advised the project will be included in the school’s upcoming newsletter! Thanks Debby for your dedication to this project!

05/05/2026

For several years, the AT&T Pioneers Northeast Chapter, has supported veterans. One way is to thank veterans through handwritten notes. Recently our community engagement for this ongoing project has increased! We’ve partnered w/SADD (Students Against Drunk Drivers) and BCA (Baldwinsville Christian Academy) to help with notes for vets participating in Honor Flights. The most recent Mission #24, took place May 2, 2026. Students, staff, family and friends wrote notes for this event! In the past, we've engaged several Syracuse area schools, Bunko groups, high school classmates, Faith Foundation groups, Teen Institute members and even attendees at a local Farm Days event to show their appreciation by writing notes. Our chapter provides blank notes, pens, stickers, suggested comments and one-liners to helpers. We've received feedback from vets saying they like to share what is in their note with those sitting near them on the flight home. As a result of that feedback, we now try to include a funny one-liner in each note, to give them a chuckle they can share with others. Typically, about 90 vets take part on each mission. Notes are distributed to vets during "Mail Call" on the return flight home. This mission makes 752+ vets we’ve thanked and more than 200 note writers since our project began. Not only have we thanked vets leaving from the Syracuse Airport, but we've included an all female flight from Knoxville, TN and attendees at a vets luncheon for those unable to travel. Our Pioneer chapter has developed a rapport with Honor Flight coordinators who look forward to receiving notes for veterans! Many vets have reached out to us to express their appreciation and gratefulness! It's a win-win and very rewarding!!!

03/06/2026

Teen Institute (TI) is a peer leadership program for young people. The Northeast Chapter of Pioneers has supported TI for many years. Jess recently invited us to help with their Great Give Back Day on March 1st. Throughout the day, students visited 4 stations:
1) packing toiletries for those in need
2) writing greeting cards for seniors, vets and hospitalized patients
3) braiding t-shirt strips into dog toys for local animal shelters
4) making 400+ PBJs for the hungry
For more than 20 years, Pioneers have run an ongoing PBJ project we call Sammie Time. In partnering with TI, we’d provide all supplies including peanut butter, jelly, bread, sandwich bags, tablecloths, spreaders, logo’d aprons, placemats, gloves, and sanitary wipes. TI would provide the helpful hands! Pioneers organized a fun environment for a very successful sandwich making session. We set up and arranged 4 tables so the event ran smoothly when the 67 participants came to our station. Each table had an alpha-numeric place card and all the items needed to complete a specific task. Responsibilities included labeling sandwich bags, spreading PB or J, bagging sandwiches, replenishing supplies, putting completed sandwiches in loaf bags then in boxes, loading packed boxes into a car for delivery and of course, cleaning up the room. As students entered the room, they picked a tab from a bucket to determine their task. Each tab matched a place card. Students found their matching place card, put on gloves and a Pioneer logo’d apron and then they were ready to begin. When all PBJs were made, before removing aprons, they gathered for a picture of the Great Give Back Day participants! Then everyone played a part in the clean up! Disposable aprons went in the trash, reusable aprons were put in a laundry basket, tables were cleared, leftover supplies were packed and are now ready for April Sammie Time! The next day, 200+ PBJs were delivered to the Samaritan Center and 200+ PBJs were delivered to the Assumption Soup Kitchen. Since Sammie Time’s inception, AT&T offices in our area have closed. We now find different venues and helpers to make the PBJs. Our Pioneer Chapter is grateful to TI for including us in their Great Give Back Day! With the help of TI, the total number of PBJs from Pioneers has exceeded 52,000. It’s rewarding to know, since the project began, our chapter has helped feed more than 52,000 hungry people, supported local stores with purchases of supplies, contributed routinely to 2 area soup kitchens, engaged regular members, Lifemembers, family, friends, high school students, church youth groups and seniors along the way. This project has reached tens of thousands of people!
As a side note: at the Great Give Back Day, a local high school teacher that runs a SADD (Students Against Drunk Drivers) program, asked Pioneers if members of the SADD group could help make PBJs? Of course, and we also have another ongoing project your students might be interested in as well. We write thank you notes for veterans participating in Honor Flights. The flights take place twice a year, in April and September. Pioneers want to ensure every veteran receives a note during mail call on the return flight home from DC. Pioneers would provide note cards, pens, and suggested writings if students need ideas. The teacher was very interested and asked how to get started. It so happens, one of Pioneers had all items with her! The teacher took 100 note cards, pens and ideas of what to write. She committed to have the notes written by the end of March! Our Honor Flight Notes program is growing just like Sammie Time! See a fun video in the 1st comment below!

01/28/2026

Today we completed ano successful session of Sammie Time! With piles of snow all around (compliments of winter storm Fern), we unloaded the bread and other supplies, set up the room, made and bagged 420+ sandwiches, cleaned up our mess, took a picture, and loaded the PBJs for delivery to the Assumption Soup Kitchen and the Samaritan Center! , We had a new helper, Ellen Murphy, along w Dotty, Jim, Melanie, Kelli, Katie, Cathy, Rosemary, and Maria! It’s Tuesday and we don’t have tshirts for everyone, but we all wore necessary logo’d aprons! Sincere thanks to all that helped AT&T Pioneers Northeast Chapter feed the hungry in our area!

12/18/2025

It’s always rewarding to help at North Area Meals in Wheels whether we’re packing meals, labeling bags or cleaning coolers! Yesterday we wore our Pioneer logo’d aprons and being in the Christmas spirit, we wore reindeer antler headbands!
***What do you get when you cross a Pioneer w a reindeer? A Piodeer!!!

Special thanks to the AT&T Pioneers Northeast Chapter 125 for coming in on short notice to package meals. They brought positive energy and holiday spirit!

12/01/2025

Teen Institute (TI) is a peer leadership group. Recently their annual conference was held in Penn Yan, NY at a Salvation Army Camp on Seneca Lake. TI staff had contacted the AT&T Pioneer Northeast Chapter looking for a service project to do at the conference. Every month for 20+ years, Pioneers have made PBJs for 2 local soup kitchens. This month, TI would make the PBJs. Ninety participants including teens, youth staff, adult staff and Pioneer volunteers made this happen! Pioneers provided and transported peanut butter, jelly, utensils, gloves, sandwich bags, aprons and 60 loaves of bread. TI supplied the many hands needed to make 600+ PBJs for the hungry in the Syracuse area. Before the sandwich making began, Pioneers did a presentation about the importance of volunteering including the associated health benefits along with suggested ways to find volunteer opportunities in the area. We reviewed a few of our current projects like folding pocket flags for deployed troops, writing thank you notes for veterans taking part in Honor Flights and sewing scrub outfits for Teddy bears given to patients at the Golisano Children’s Hospital. For this PBJ event, participants wore Pioneer logo’d aprons and each was assigned a task. Some teens labeled bags, some spread PB, some spread jelly, some bagged sandwiches, some replenished supplies and if anyone had a peanut allergy, they wrote notes to veterans attending an upcoming Honor Everywhere dinner. As we wrapped up the event, everyone joined in to clean up and load the many boxes of sandwiches for delivery to the hungry. This special group of teens enjoyed the PBJ event so much, they even made up a little jingle about making sandwiches! Together, we helped feed 600+ hungry people. To plan this successful project, we interacted with workers at a restaurant supply store, clerks and bakery staff at a grocery store, helpers at both soup kitchens and we had a team of volunteers that prepared items in advance of the event. We packed cars, made the 1.5 hour drive, set up tables, laid out supplies, gave teens direction as needed, made sandwiches, cleaned up, loaded PBJs into cars, made the drive back and delivered the PBJs! It was Pioneers’ pleasure to work with TI and we look forward to partnering with them again!

11/14/2025

It was a rewarding event and we are glad to help!!! Thx for including us!

WE want to extend a special thanks to the AT&T Pioneers - Northeast Chapter 125 for helping package meals for our clients.
We appreciate all you do!

11/12/2025

AT&T Pioneers - Northeast Chapter recently partnered with the Onondaga Historical Association and Syracuse Stage on a Pioneer project. The play “Hello Girls” ran from 9/9/25-9/28/25 at Syracuse Stage. As a result of the partnerships, we learned so much about the real Hello Girls! During WW1, Army General Pershing was in charge of the Signal Corp in France. He felt calls could be made more quickly if female telephone operators, that routinely placed calls, handled those made by the Signal Corp. General Pershing shared his idea. Ads were placed in US newspapers with requirements including women had to be bilingual (English/French), over 18 and single. Thousands of women applied. Approximately 800 interviews took place and 223 operators became the Signal Corps Female Telephone Operators Unit. They took the same oath as male soldiers, however the women were considered “civilian contractors”, and as females were not allowed in the service. They wore specially designed uniforms, followed the same guidelines as males and hanging from the backs of their chairs were gas masks and helmets, as they were often in dangerous situations. The operators were instructed to answer calls using the word “hello”, just like we do today! After the war ended, many bills were submitted to Congress and 60 years later, the Hello Girls (a nickname they gave themselves) were recognized as veterans. General Pershing was correct… calls put thru by female operators took an average of 10 seconds to place while calls by their male counterparts took 60 seconds. The females processed approximately 26 million calls from 1917-1918 It was a great improvement and had a significant impact on the war. The show was seen by close to 11,000 people and was very entertaining! The posters displayed in the theater lobby throughout the show, noted the positive impact women had while serving. Additionally, one poster highlighted projects our chapter currently runs to feed the hungry, support military troops, and show care to young patients at the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital! Given the opportunity, don’t miss the chance to see the play and you are always welcome to help Pioneers by volunteering or thru donations!

11/12/2025

Debby DeVenzia, of the AT&T Pioneers Northeast Chapter, played a significant role in the success of the PFGF (Pershing Field Garden Friends) Fall Festival held, 10/25/25. The PFGF is grateful for other sponsors including Patrick Ambrossi, and JC Dept. of Cultural Affairs. Hundreds of attendees enjoyed pumpkin tic tac toe, festive fall decorations, face painting and much more! PFGF offers sincere thanks to our sponsors, our many volunteers and to the Liberty Sword Club for the wonderful demonstration.

11/09/2025

😂😂😂