wellington volunteer
CINDY ALBERS
Story by Matthew Auerbach
Breast Cancer Survivor Volunteers To Help Others With Their Battles Volunteering can be a funny thing. Sometimes, people get involved for a specific reason, and then, a new circumstance arises, putting a completely different spin on their volunteer work. So it is with Cindy Albers, the October nominee for Wellington The Magazine’s Volunteer of the Year Award. Albers arrived in Wellington after moving to South Florida from the Washington, D.C., area with her husband, Mark, their two young sons, Aaron and Matthew, and family dog Goldie. Mark and Cindy, who met while both were attending the University of Maryland, packed their bags and headed to the Palm Beaches when he got a job offer in Palm Beach Gardens. “We researched various areas to live that would be within commuting distance of Mark’s job and decided on Wellington, since it offers a family oriented community with good public schools,” Albers said. “We purchased a home, registered the boys at the local elementary school, signed them up for soccer and joined Temple Beth Torah.” But it wasn’t an easy time, since they had left much behind in the Northeast. “It was a tough transition for us since we were leaving our immediate family — both of our parents, siblings, nieces and nephews — as well as a circle of close friends,” Albers recalled. Aaron and Matthew were attending Panther Run Elementary School, and Cindy thought it would be the perfect
time to get involved and volunteer in their classes. “I was taking time off from my career as a corporate recruiter to get acclimated and start our new lives in Wellington,” Albers said. “I had worked full-time and part-time during their childhood and had always been envious of the mothers who were able to get more involved in their communities and spend more time with their children. Volunteering seemed to be a great way to get involved, meet people, learn about the community and feel productive.” Albers had done some volunteering back in Maryland. “I was involved in numerous volunteer roles, including chairing school activities and events, assisting teachers, charitable events through the temple and the boys’ sports,” she said. Her husband also became a volunteer, thanks to the boys. “Our sons wanted to play soccer, so I volunteered my husband’s time and signed him up to coach both of their soccer teams,” Albers said. “The boys continued to play soccer, then basketball and then lacrosse, which eventually led to my husband starting up the Wellington Youth Lacrosse League. We were settling in to our new community.” Then, in 2008, at the age of 41, Albers was diagnosed with breast cancer. “At the time, I received support from a friend of my aunt, a long-term breast cancer survivor,” she said. “She called me and listened and understood my fears, and it helped me to have
somebody to talk with who was a survivor and understood the emotional aspect.” The “emotional aspect” of her diagnosis was compounded by the fact that Aaron was preparing for his bar mitzvah. “I had made the decision to go through chemotherapy to improve my odds of the cancer not coming back,” Albers said. “In my wildest dreams, I would never have imagined myself wearing a wig at my son’s bar mitzvah, but with the support of my family and friends, it was a wonderful and memorable celebration.” It also led to a new volunteer path. “I remember thinking that after my ordeal, I would like to be able to make a difference for others who were facing and fighting breast cancer,” she recalled. As she completed her treatment and started to feel stronger, Albers made the decision to get involved in helping others again. “I decided to become more involved in my temple and joined the Caring Committee, providing support to members in need,” she said. “After the chairs retired, I became the committee chair and then a temple board member. Volunteering was becoming another way to help with my healing process. It felt good to help others feel good.” Three years after completing her treatment, Albers attended a training |wellington the magazine| October 2013
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