Every week Berkeley resident Dorothy Lindheim comes into the Citizens for East Shore Parks office to help out in diverse, small but meaningful ways: finding press clips, organizing files, addressing envelopes and writing thank-you letters. Dorothy has been a committed volunteer with CESP since 2004, when her friend Doris Sloan, a current board member, encouraged her to volunteer. Although she has maintained a lifelong interest in the environment, her volunteer experience with CESP was her first foray into environmental activism.
Reflecting on her volunteer experience, Dorothy said that it was “fun” and “important to have a regular commitment.” She considers her donated time only a “very tiny contribution” to the ambitious goal of preserving the East Bay shoreline. In her spare time, Dorothy also volunteers in a Berkeley public school reading program, where she currently works with fourth-graders. Her message to people who are thinking about volunteering? “Just do it!”
Dorothy grew up in Fresno and came to the Bay Area to attend the University of California at Berkeley, where she studied economics. She has four grown children, nine grandchildren, and is soon expecting a great-grandchild. Dorothy would like to see more shoreline protection, especially the completion of the Bay Trail that runs through Golden Gate Fields. “I would like my great-grandchild to be able to experience that,” she said.