A Trenton Woman will speak at Mercer County nonprofit Shine and Inspire's annual fundraiser on Oct. 23 about her experience with giving and receiving.
TRENTON - When Medicare denied an application to provide a motorized scooter for Gina Damiano, who has been unable to walk since a recent knee surgery, Mercer County nonprofit Shine and Inspire came to the rescue.
"Medicare, their logic was if I could walk a few steps, they couldn't help me," Damiano said. "Shine and Inspire really made a difference in my life. I never knew people like that existed."
Shine and Inspire, which operates out of Pennington, bought Damiano a scooter, which cost just under $2,000, the nonprofit's Director Carol Feldman said.
"The scooter really increased my mobility," Damiano said. "I can go anywhere now."
Damiano will be speaking about her involvement with Shine and Inspire at the nonprofit's fundraiser A Night to Shine: Fashion Edition on Oct. 23 in Princeton. The fashion event replaces the annual Care to Dance fundraiser, held in Hamilton the past three years, for which Feldman said alienated some people who shy away from dancing.
However, Damiano will not only speak at the event about what the nonprofit did for her, but what she did for her community in return.
Shine and Inspire commits itself on providing assistance with the stipulation that the recipient will give back in some sort of charitable way. Damiano set up a seven week long summer crafts program for the children in the building she lives in at Rowan Towers.
Every day over the summer, up until a few weeks before schools were back in session, Damiano said she set up a new art project for children ranging in ages from 2 to 14 to take part in. In addition, at the end of the seven weeks, she hosted a tie-dye T-shirt party for everyone who participated.
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"I wanted to do something fun," Damiano said. "The kids loved doing the projects and seeing what I would have for them the next day."
Damiano paid for the supplies for the craft workshop "out of my pocket" and through community donations, she said.
Feldman said she tried buying the art supplies for Damiano's program, but the Trenton woman refused.
"I said, 'No. You guys bought me a gift that I can never repay,'" Damiano said.
Damiano loves community service but said since her knee surgery she could not do as much, being almost completely immobile.
"I like helping people, helping the community," she said. "Miss Carol gave me back what I like to do anyway."
Damiano said she used to volunteer in building programs when there was a live-in social worker - who has since left - but the craft workshop was the first self-organized program.
She said she hopes eventually she can expand the crafts program to include field trips for the children, but would need local business support to do so.
"If I could get enough sponsors, we could go to ball games, museums, places where I used to go as a kid," Damiano said.
She said she plans to sit down with Feldman at some point to see if she can get her in contact with businesses and organizations willing to sponsor her program.
"I want to expose these kids to more than just the streets," Damiano said. "The kids showed talent they didn't know they had when they painted a picture, designed a project. The street is no place for these kids."
She said she served about 40 children in her building over the summer.
As for speaking at the Oct. 23 fundraising event, Damiano said she is "nervous."
"I don't like stuff centered on me," she said. "I'd rather do stuff and sit in the background, but it's for a good cause so I'll do it."
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
