Volunteer of the Month: Stephanie Zyvoloski

A resident of Severna Park for nearly 17 years, Stephanie Zyvoloski was first introduced to the nonprofit Walk the Walk Foundation (WTWF) through her church many years ago. At the time, WTWF coordinated a Christmas gift drive for underprivileged children at Bay Area Community Church. Zyvoloski and her husband are parents to three boys and a girl, ages 14-22, and each year they would sponsor gifts for a family that had three boys and a girl or vice versa.

WTWF’s Gifts for Children initiative now operates independently of the church, along with its Backpacks for Kids and Diapers for Babies programs, all supporting families in Anne Arundel County.

Zyvoloski again crossed paths with WTWF through her daughter’s involvement at Thrive Gym. Throughout her final year as a gymnast there, she participated in the service-oriented Thrive Ambassadors program, through which she and her mom packed diapers for WTWF.

When Zyvoloski found herself seated with WTWF Executive Director Nicole Dolan at a church event, a conversation led to becoming a regular volunteer with the nonprofit. She started out helping with Gifts for Children, then Dolan learned that Zyvoloski had a minivan and a willingness to put miles on it for WTWF.

“A lot of people don’t like minivans, but I love my minivan because not only can I haul kids; I can haul things,” Zyvoloski said with a laugh.

Initially, those “things” were Christmas gifts picked up from organizations with large donations. Zyvoloski also collects diapers from donation drives and drop-off points including BD Provisions, Rolly Pollies and Thrive Gym. From there, her involvement grew.

“My kids are older now, and I’m still a stay-at-home mom, so … this is where my heart’s leading me,” she said. “I feel blessed that I have some of the daytime hours to be able to help out.”

Zyvoloski helps at the WTWF warehouse in Millersville with monthly diaper pulls, during which volunteers prep diapers by size and quantity for pickup by 25 diaper distribution partners throughout the county. The majority of distribution partners pick up on the same day, but as more have been added, Dolan has assembled a “second shift” of diaper staging volunteers as well. Zyvoloski is on the frontlines of that team, too.

She helps with the diaper program on a year-round basis and assists in other areas as she’s available, including dropping off backpacks for kids in need to local schools.

Last summer, Dolan asked Zyvoloski to transport backpacks to Lothian Elementary School in southern Anne Arundel County. A school employee who helped unload them asked what else WTWF did. A conversation led to a connection, and Lothian Elementary now has a baby pantry and is one of WTWF’s newest diaper partners.

“I just love the feeling of being able to help somebody else out,” Zyvoloski said of volunteering with WTWF. “What happened with Lothian Elementary … just seeing the way God works, and the joy that comes from realizing that because I said ‘yes, I’m willing to help out,’ it got the ball rolling and started a process that’s going to help out even more people … It’s just a really rewarding feeling.”

She added that using her vehicle to transport things also makes her feel like a piece of a larger puzzle of helping people who might be experiencing hardship.

Dolan shared, “I can always count on Stephanie when I need an extra hand. She is thorough, pays attention to detail, and cares deeply about Walk the Walk’s mission.”

Zyvoloski has also served at her church in children’s ministry and as a Bible study small group leader, and she has faithfully volunteered to do book talks at Severna Park Middle School for close to a decade.

She explained that the school has a program through which parent volunteers read and discuss books with students. When the volunteer roster thinned out during COVID, Zyvoloski stepped up, and has done about six to nine book talks for different classes in recent years. Although her youngest child is wrapping up eighth grade, Zyvoloski told the book talk coordinator to keep her on the rolls if they have need for future volunteers.

To learn more about or get involved with WTWF’s Diapers for Babies, Backpacks for Kids, or Gifts for Children programs, go to www.wtwf.org.