Spotlight on Volunteers: Rich Hogg

Rich Hogg is an optician who has lived in Pearl River with his wife Denise and son Eric for the past 22 years. 

Two weeks ago, you might have seen Hogg standing outside of ShopRite collecting food for Christ's Ambassadors of Charity.  The organization is run by Chris Zuccaro and works with several other organizations in the community to feed and clothe the needy. 

Any Sunday that the Ambassadors are out collecting food, you can find Hogg donating his time to help those less fortunate than himself.  He has also been a member of the Northern Valley Rotary Club for the past 30 years, where he has served on a variety of committees and even been president at one point.  With his volunteer activities, Hogg shows himself to be a caring and selfless individual who is dedicated to helping those members of his community that need it.

When and why did you first get started volunteering and what was your first experience with it?

I actually read an article in the Journal News about Chris and I knew who Chris was. I didn’t know him personally. I knew him from my church and it just seemed like something I’d like to do.  It was something that I saw they did a food drive about three times a year and I’m thinking, well, that’s not that big of a commitment to meet one Sunday three times a year. I called Chris up and told him that I could work.

He said,"Well, how many hours do you want to work." and I said, well, I can give you the whole day

He said, "Wow, that’s phenomenal."

So I jumped on and we had a fantastic day. I think I went from about nine in the morning till close to 7:30 at night and I think we got close to 60 baskets of food at Shoprite in Pearl River and it was a very rewarding experience and I just decided, I said look, as many times as you need me, give me a call and, as he expanded and went to a few more different stores and started getting a little more time at Shoprite. We expanded it too, because it got to the point where I was doing four or five times a year.

Was that the first organization you had ever volunteered with?

No, actually my business is in Jersey and I’ve been a member of the Rotary Club there for over 30 years, so I’ve worked on a number of volunteer projects.

What drew you in back then to becoming a volunteer and donating your time?

Actually, I kind of almost got shamed into it.  One of my customers came, and he asked me, he was into Rotary, and he asked me if I wanted to join.  I didn’t really know anything about it and I said, well, I don’t know, I have my own business here and I’m pretty busy and run it by myself, and he said, you know what, you said you’ve been here for five years, this community’s been good to you, maybe it’s time you give something back to the community.  I thought about it and I said, you know, he’s right, so I joined the Rotary and had a phenomenal time with them also.  We get a lot out of it and we put a lot into it.

After 30 years, what keeps you interested in volunteering and, especially with running your own business, staying motivated for it?

Well, if you’re really interested in something, you can find the time to do it.  30 years ago, I ran it all by myself, now I have five employees.  The bulk of what we do, with Rotary and with Chris, Saturday’s my big day in the retail business and so I’m not able to do Saturday, but I give Chris every Sunday that he needs me and Rotary projects are usually in the evenings and on Sundays.

What roles have you been in and what experiences have you had as a result of those?

The bulk of my volunteer work is with Chris and I’ve done probably about six or seven food drives with him and a couple weeks ago was the first clothing drive that I participated in.  I had a little surgery on my foot last year and I wasn’t able to give in the winter months and I missed the clothing drive, so this was the first time I had done that with him and that was very rewarding also.

In what way has volunteering benefited you personally?

It gives you a great feeling when you know that you’re helping somebody else.  Even when we’re doing the food drives, the various charities show up at Shoprite and actually pick the merchandise up from us.  The one that that brings out in my mind is the Martin Luther King Center in Spring Valley, which stops by with a van.  They’re so appreciative to get the food and they also stopped by the clothing drive and picked up a lot of clothing, so you see the people that it’s going to and that let’s you know right away that what you’re doing makes a big difference in somebody’s life.

So is that you’re favorite thing about volunteering?

Absolutely.  It gives you a good feeling what you’ve done.  Especially on these cold days, when you’re standing outside of ShopRite and the wind chill is below zero and you’re standing out there, people come by and Pearl River’s such a giving community, so people come by.  One guy actually brought a whole cart of food and it almost floored me, you know, probably $200 worth of food in the cart and he said here, you guys are standing out here in the cold, this is the least I can do for you.  People come by and a lot of people thank you for doing it and it makes you feel good.

Is volunteering something that you plan to continue to do?

Absolutely, as long as I am able to do it, I’m going to do it.

How was your most recent drive?

The most recent one was excellent.  It wasn’t as cold as previous ones, so it was a little more bearable standing out there and we had a great turnout.  Like I say, Pearl River great, we do so well with the ShopRite crowd and the people are all so giving, and they’re happy to help you.

What is your most meaningful memory from volunteering?

It would have to be that guy who brought the whole cart of food out, I’ll never forget it.  It was just overflowing with food, there had to be $200 worth of food in there.

What advice would you give to someone who might be interested in volunteering, might think about it, but hasn’t really started doing anything with it?

I’d tell them, you get a whole lot more out of it than you put into it.  All you have to do is stand there and be a little proactive with people and you get it back, it’s amazing.  People are just so responsive to you.

Know a volunteer who deserves some recognition and would be willing to be interviewed about their work?

Please contact Sam Schaeffer using the “email the author” button at the top of the article.