Toni Reece: Hi there. I’m Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living magazine. Today I have Vanessa Wanshop with me. Welcome.
Vanessa Wanshop: Thank you.
Toni: So, Vanessa, take a minute and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Vanessa: I am a mother of two kids. I live in Exeter. Lived in Mount Penn. I love that end of town. It’s just my kind of people, I guess. I’ve been in the non-profit world for 20 years, and I just love it. I love that at the end of the day, I can feel good about what I do. I love that I can share it with my kids and inspire them to volunteer themselves.
Toni: Let’s get into the Project. What does inspiration mean to you?
Vanessa: When I think about inspiration, I think about the people around me; the things that they do that inspire me. I work with The Friends of Reading Hospital, and it inspires me that here’s a group of people that when they get together, they don’t mince words. They don’t dance around. They see a need; they vote on it, and they make it happen. I get excited about that. That inspires me that you’re not sitting there dwelling on it. You’re not planning and planning and thinking. “No. This needs to be done. Let’s do it.” I’ve been very fortunate throughout the last 20 years to be involved with organizations that have made an impact on people whether they’re homeless, kids in the city—I just have been really fortunate.
Toni: So, would you say that when it comes to inspiration, it’s inspiration and impact?
Vanessa: Yes.
Toni: You are inspired by impact.
Vanessa: Yes, I am.
Toni: Okay. It doesn’t matter, big or small.
Vanessa: Correct.
Toni: As long as you’re witnessing it, maybe being a part of it?
Vanessa: Absolutely.
Toni: Okay. So, how do you take that definition of being inspired by observing, being part of impacting, and how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Vanessa: Well, I get to have the best job in the world. I get to again work with The Friends of Reading Hospital. I work at the hospital. I get to work with volunteers, but I get to use my skills. I get to share those skills so that I can help them achieve their goals. I know that they are the ones that are pulling all the strings, but I get to be a part of that. So, your skills and talents, I guess.
Toni: So, you’re moving. You’re inspired by organizations or yourself that have had some sort of impact.
Vanessa: Yes.
Toni: When you describe how you put that into practice, do you find yourself paying that impact forward, even personally? I understand the skills and talents professionally, but how does it impact you personally and then put that into practice?
Vanessa: That’s a good question. I know that oftentimes when I meet people that are applying for funding from The Friends of Reading Hospital that I get to learn a little bit more about what they do. I’ve gotten to become a little bit more involved with Reading Recreation Commission, Hannah’s Hope. I’ve gotten to participate in some of their events, and even work with them further. A good example is Reading Recreation. I lined them up with the Secret Santa, as it were, with our hospital and it was just an extra little thing that I was able to do in addition to funding these two food service vans that the 90,000 kids—or meals, I should say.
Toni: That is quite an impact. But now, that is pretty significant to me that you will get involved based on what you learn so that you can connect possibly those organizations to even a bigger impact.
Vanessa: Absolutely.
Toni: That’s fantastic.
Vanessa: Yes.
Toni: Who in Berks Count inspires you?
Vanessa: Well, my first mentor was Ramona Turpin back many, many moons ago at Sovereign Bank. I just saw what she was able to do in the marketing department, and that was really my first foray into the non-profit world. She was the part of the organization that decided where the funding for Sovereign Bank was going to go; what golf tournaments, what programs in the city, what have you. I just watched how she worked and how she became part of the program, too.
There was one program that they did at the Police Athletic League where they took some bankers and talked to the kids about how to open a checking account and a savings account and why you should have those things, and how much you should put in savings. It was just so great to be a part of that evening to see them learn and expand, because a lot of these kids never even had an inkling about opening an account, but it’s so important for them later in life, so let’s give them a leg up. To watch how she interacted and how she just connected people, and I think the way she was a connector really impacted me that I now try and connect other people as well.
Toni: Okay. Anybody else in Berks County?
Vanessa: Oh, goodness. I have a lot of people that I just am amazed by. Daphne Klahr with Reading Recreation—I think that she just is incredible as well. I know that I keep bringing them up, but I had seen her professionally at Penn State Berks, one of the Chamber of Commerce events in March where they have tenth graders come and learn a little bit more about what they can do with the rest of their lives. She got up and talked about this girl’s leadership, this program she put together with these kids that a lot of them were like, “Oh, I’m not gonna to graduate from high school. I’m gonna just be a mom. I’m just gonna live at home.” This “just, just, just” and she opened up this world and takes them to Kutztown University and shows them these possibilities, and that just blows my mind that there are people that can see a challenge in our community and just take it and make it better.
Toni: So, what would you like your legacy to be?
Vanessa: My legacy. I would love to be one of the people that other people find inspiring, but I think that even if I’m the person that connects the people, I’m okay with that. I’m okay with being known as that person. I know a lot of people will say, “Oh, Vanessa knows this person. You should connect with her. She knows somebody in this organization.” I’m okay with that, because it’s like every action really is impactful when it comes to inspiration. You have to have little steps involved and sometimes it’s just the introduction.
Toni: That’s what you would like your legacy to be?
Vanessa: Well, I would love to be able to win the lottery and really make a nice legacy, but I just want to be maybe the go-to person that people think of when they consider that sort of thing.
Toni: It reminds me, the inspiration and impact through this entire interview reminds me of logistics, and it reminds me of the logistics of moving things; connecting and moving. It sounds to me that what you would like your legacy to be is that logistics person of moving, impact, and inspiration along in a community by connecting.
Vanessa: Absolutely. I could not have summed that up better. Thank you.
Toni: Therefore, you are already living your legacy; and how cool is that?
Vanessa: It’s very cool.
Toni: There you go. All right, Vanessa, thank you for showing up to the Get Inspired! Project.
Vanessa: Thank you, Toni.
