What does it take these days to make a difference in yourcommunity?
An impressiveresumeand bankroll help.
Former President Bill Clinton, 68, established the $250 million Clinton Foundation.
Yet you don’t need instant name recognition or a big checkbook to take up the challenge.
Claire Bloom, 67
Founder and executive director,End 68 Hours of Hunger
Somersworth, N.H.
Instead, the retired naval officer wound up volunteering for a new life’s mission.
Bloom says she vowed to herself, “I can’t let this happen.”
At first she fed 19 children in one New Hampshire town.
“It’s a totally anonymous program,” says Bloom.
“So our volunteers don’t have any idea who the children are.”
The schools choose the recipients.
She runs a tight ship; Bloom takes no salary and insists that her approximately 600volunteercolleagues do the same.
She largely credits her military training for her nonprofit’s success.
She describes herself as a micromanager, so “how I manage things had to change.”
At the time, Choi’s mother weighed 62 pounds and needed a colostomy bag.
But in Korean culture, institutionalizing an ailing parent is unthinkable.
“You take care of your mom and dad,” says Choi.
“That’s in my blood.”
