Longtime volunteer Doug Batchelder has been a board member for the Greater Valley's YMCA for more than 12 years, and now, he is on the corporate board of directors. His role includes meeting community needs in childcare, social engagement and fitness for seniors, and managing their warming station for the homeless community in Allentown.
In addition to the YMCA, Batchelder has served on the Advisory Committee for Nonpublic Schools at the Department of Education in Trenton, NJ, for over 25 years.
“All of us want our life to make a difference and to have meaning,” Batchelder says. “Volunteer work, whether it is in your local house of worship, at a YMCA, community hospital, public or nonpublic school, does provide both. Being together with others enriches life.”
Batchelder recently took on a new position as the Chair of the Board of Directors of Warren County Christian Academy. The Warren County Christian Academy is a new PK3 through grade eight elementary school in Lopatcong Township that focuses on fine arts and can also act as a home to students.
Batchelder lives to make a difference and knows his work is worth it when he sees lives being changed. He chooses to focus on the good in people and in the world and tries to spread the good that he sees.
“Whether it is an elderly person finding fellowship at their local YMCA, a homeless person having a warm place to spend a cold winter's night, a child learning to read and learning to treat others with kindness, the hungry being fed—it is seeing the impact that I, in a small way, get to create that is my favorite part,” says Batchelder.
