Lifetime resident Michael Pinto has fond memories growing up in the Shillington community. Riding his bike through the tree-lined streets, summertime at the pool, attending Mifflin schools, and witnessing the Governor Mifflin Community Days inaugural festival and fireworks display during the 1976 Bicentennial.
Although Michael works full-time as a principle IT architect for a national company, he devotes much of his time to his community through volunteering in various capacities to help enhance the quality of life for Shillington residents. We were able to catch up with him during the height of one of the community’s biggest events, Community Days, to learn more about his volunteer activities with the Shillington Tree Advisory Committee (STAC), Governor Mifflin Community Days, The Shillington Civil Service Commission and Grace Lutheran Church in Shillington.
Michael explains, “The Shillington Tree Advisory Committee is a second generation of community members who have an interest in the tree canopy in Shillington, so we can’t take full credit. There was an early version in the 1990s which essentially died from ageing out and from a lack of volunteers. Volunteers are definitely an endangered species. From a personal perspective, growing up in Shillington, I was accustomed to tree-lined streets everywhere in the borough. In 2010, Council member Elizabeth Bentz held a meeting to discuss what we could do to improve the community. During the meeting, we noted the lack of trees and education on planting trees. Residents Britta and John Hyneman helped to form STAC to focus on replacing and planting street trees within the borough”.
In spring and fall, residents have the opportunity to have trees planted in front of their property free of charge. Michael fields calls from residents and helps to coordinate their requests to have trees ordered and planted by the committee of volunteers. Since 2010 STAC has planted over 450 street trees in the borough and continues to seek out new ways of creating an awareness of the value of trees in the community.
At the time of our interview, Michael was in the process of gearing up for the annual Governor Mifflin Community Days celebration. His connection to this annual event is personal, due to the fact that his mother was one of the event founders, helping to plan the first event in 1976. It was a success, and the organizers decided that they wanted to form an organization for the benefit of the community, and going forward, the event became known as Community Days.
“The organization hosts a week long fair; its core mission is to give back to the community and to generate the funds to allow that to happen. Each year we present four scholarships to graduating seniors and give out over a half-million dollars to various community organizations like the library, Boy Scouts, ambulance, and fire police. It is a year long process, and I’ve been on the board for 21 years, serving as chair of digital publications.”
In addition, Michael has served on the Shillington Civil Service Commission as Secretary for 20 years. The organization is appointed by Borough Council, overseeing hiring and promotions for the Shillington Police. For the past seven years, he has been an active member of the property committee at Grace Lutheran Church, where he is a lifetime member.
Why does he volunteer? “From the trees and seeing a problem of losing so many, I wanted to be part of the solution. Community Days is a family legacy. I enjoyed these things as a child growing up in Shillington and I wanted them to continue. Each generation needs to step up and make it happen. Things don’t happen in a vacuum. They don’t just appear, we need volunteers. These organizations help to fill in the gaps and enhance the quality of life in every community by providing support. The country has been based on volunteer organizations, and they are the core foundation of the country.”