Eleanor B. Steigman This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. GoldenBuckeye.com News Release - 2004 Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame

   www.goldenbuckeye.org/news/200 - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/27/2004   Last Visited: 4/15/2006

   Eleanor B. Steigman (Shaker Heights) - For 47 years, Eleanor has devoted her time and energy to her community and to improving the lives of older citizens.She is a lifetime trustee of the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, vice president of the Jewish Family Service/ Jewish Community Housing HUD Homes and volunteers with the Senior Success Initiative at the United Way.
   
   Since 1977, more than 300 individuals have been inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.

2. 2. JFSA Leadership

   www.jfsa-cleveland.org/leaders - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/8/2008   Last Visited: 8/8/2008

   Eleanor Steigman

3. 3. Cleveland Jewish News.com -- Features

   www.clevelandjewishnews.com/ar - [Cached]

   Published on: 7/10/2004   Last Visited: 7/10/2004

   - Eleanor Steigman, volunteer honoree
   
   When Eleanor Steigman was a young girl, she often accompanied her mother on her "schnorring" expeditions throughout their closely-knit Kinsman neighborhood.
   
   "This was during the Depression, and my mother was determined to raise money for people who were even poorer than us," recalls Steigman, 80."She went to the local Jewish butchers and grocers and asked for food donations.Then she and her like-minded friends cooked an enormous lunch, charged a fee, and gave all the proceeds to various Jewish charities."
   
   These forays were a source of embarrassment for young Eleanor, and she vowed that she would never follow in her mother's footsteps.
   
   Fortunately, that vow was short-lived.After 47 years of active, meaningful community involvement, Steigman personifies the word "volunteer."This year alone, the Shaker Heights resident received four significant honors.
   
   After serving as president of the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging, Steigman was selected as one of only 25 other senior Americans to receive the 2004 MetLife Foundation Older Volunteers Enrich America Award from The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.They also honored her with the Team Spirit Award for her volunteer work with the Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland.The Center for Community Solutions (formerly The Federation for Community Planning) presented Steigman with the Most Treasured Volunteer Award, and this May she made a trip to Columbus where she was inducted into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame.
   
   As the distinguished-looking, beautifully coifed Steigman reflects on her life, she says her volunteer career began when her son was a year old.
   
   "I started working when I was 13.When I got married at 18, I went to work in my husband's tool-and-die shop," she says."I was used to a busy, productive life and needed some outside interest."
   
   A call from Steigman's friend Ida Shulman, a member of the National Council of Jewish Women, and the offer to take a six-month volunteer-training course with NCJW started Steigman on the volunteer path.
   ...
   "I was raised in an Orthodox household and the lessons of tikkun olam (repair of the world) and tsedakah that I learned from my parents have stayed with me all my life," says Steigman, a member of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun (formerly with Beth Am)."We are not here alone, and whatever benefits you have in life you must share with others."
   
   As to the future of volunteerism, Steigman says this younger generation views volunteering differently than hers."Because most couples work outside the home, today's volunteers like to be involved in short-term projects where they can see the end results," she says.