Volunteer in the Spotlight, Glen Albanese
PBP is pleased to present this month's Volunteer in the Spotlight, Glen Albanese, Chairman of the Board for A Caring Hand (ACH). Glen has played a pivotal role in the overall success of ACH. Through his dedication and teamwork, Glen has helped ACH to fulfill their mission to provide financial assistance for educational opportunities and bereavement counseling to children that have experienced the loss of a parent. PBP had a chance to catch up with Glen this month and he filled us in, below, on his experiences with ACH and more.

My name is Glen Albanese and I am currently Chairman of the Board for ACH, a position I have held for the past year. I first learned about this great organization through my friend, Howard Melzer, who introduced me to Darren Port of Powered by Professionals. Through Darren, I became involved in ACH. I am a member of the Wall St. community, who was affected greatly by 9/11, and I wanted to get involved in a charity that grew out of that experience, such as ACH. So, this was a perfect match for me.

I spend a great deal of time at work and with my family and I became involved with ACH because I wanted to give something back to the community as a way to give thanks for all of the positive experiences I have had in my short lifetime. I'm very proud of the accomplishments that we, as an entire Board, have achieved at ACH. Currently, we are focused on the opening of the A Caring Hand, Billy Esposito Bereavement Center, which we plan to open in the coming months.

On a personal note, I graduated from Pace University in 1993 after studying public accounting. After graduation, I began working at a small accounting firm, Raines and Fisher, where I worked for two years and received my CPA. After this experience, I went on to work for Mitchell Hutchins Asset Management for one year and then began to work for Needham and Company. in October of 1996, where I have worked ever since. In my free time, I enjoy golfing, reading, traveling and spending time with my family. I am also involved in the Needham September 11th Scholarship Fund.

My best memories of working with ACH, so far, are made up of seeing all the children we have been able to help with bereavement counseling and those for whom we have been able to help provide a higher education. I also enjoyed Board members Jennifer Nyp and Robin Goodman's video on child bereavement that they created this year. It was so touching to see how they put it together and how it ultimately reflected the importance of the mission of ACH. Looking forward, I hope to continue to lead ACH in a positive direction this year with the opening of the Bereavement Center.