COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT: Catherine Donohoe is president of the board of directors of Bridge to Life, an organization that works to provide parents with food, clothes and other items necessary for raising a child. The organization, Donohoe says, has only one part-time employee, an accountant. The board is made up entirely of volunteers. “We have doctors, lawyers and accountants on our board,” she said. “They all come from different religions.”
In addition to providing supplies, Bridge to Life also provides services for those who might be pregnant. “We have free pregnancy tests, we provide sonograms,” she said.
The organization was started in 1992 with one location on Bell Boulevard. Today, the organization has two locations with one in Flushing and the other in Astoria. Bridge also has a 24-hour hotline.
BACKGROUND: Donohoe is a lifetime resident of Queens. She works as a professor at Nassau Community College and is a parishioner at Holy Family R.C. Church in Fresh Meadows.
FAVORITE MEMORY: Donohoe told the story of a volunteer from Holy Cross High School who came to volunteer at Bridge to Life. The student asked his mom where he should volunteer to fulfill his service hours for school and she had chosen Bridge to Life herself and recommended it. Both mother and son were recently honored at the organization’s annual dinner dance.
INSPIRATION: When Eleanor Ruder, the founder of Bridge to Life, came to speak at Donohoe’s parish, she said she was inspired to start the work that Bridge does today. But Donohoe said her inspiration continues beyond that single event. “You get inspiration when you continue to do the work day after day,” she said.
BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Donohoe says her biggest challenge is the current “culture” that she sees through the experiences of her daughter who is currently in college.
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