PEABODY, MA – A Brooksby Village resident and two staff members have received the Massachusetts Aging Services Association’s (MassAging) 2006 Community Service Award for their recent volunteer work in El Salvador.

This past year, Director of Resident Life Nelda Quigley, resident Gerry Donovan, and Service Coach Francisco J. Lopez traveled to El Salvador to help after a year of hurricanes, mudslides, a volcano, and an earthquake.

“What an honor,” says Quigley of the award. “I have been on this trip a number of times and to now be recognized for the work we do is wonderful. We all work well with those from El Salvador and we build strong friendships while we are there, making it a wonderful experience.”

While in El Salvador, Quigley, Donovan, and Lopez painted walls, taught English, and brought encouragement and support to the families and especially the children in the area. 

Quigley has been involved for several years in ongoing volunteer work with Dr. Vicky Guzman’s Salvadoran Association for Rural Health (ASAPROSAR), and has since gotten people who live and work at Brooksby Village interested in the organization’s work as well. She first became involved with ASAPROSAR in 1993 when her daughter traveled to El Salvador and met Dr. Guzman during a semester abroad as part of Kalamazoo College's career development program.

ASAPROSAR is a multi-service organization founded in the 1970s by Dr. Guzman to address health care issues in El Salvador’s rural villages and urban communities. The organization has since grown to serve more than 90,000 people. Expanded services address the needs of entire communities by tending to abused children, regenerating the environment, educating about population issues, employment training, providing low-cost loans to women for business development, and providing health care prevention and treatment. (Dani G. Baldassare)