A lifetime go-getter

Life atop the Chevy Chase canyon has been good to Suzanne Coscarelli for the past 30 years. She has enjoyed financial success and traveled a lot. Despite these pleasures, however, she has always been aware that they are not enough.

“I’ve been very, very lucky in life,” Coscarelli said. “I want to share that.”

For nearly two decades, Coscarelli has been volunteering on the Glendale Assn. for the Retarded’s (GAR) board of directors. Founded in 1954, GAR provides support for developmentally disabled adults in the community. Programs include employment via GAR’s newsprint recycling initiative, weekly bowling sessions and group home living accommodations.

“These are folks that 25 to 30 years ago were locked away in their rooms,” Coscarelli said. “Now when they come to GAR, they become useful citizens. They have jobs, they work every day, they have a lot of self-esteem.”

Coscarelli was one of the founders — and is the current auction committee head — of Derby Day, GAR’s only fundraiser of the year. Coinciding with the annual Kentucky Derby, the event celebrated its 18th year this past May at the Pickwick Gardens Conference Center in Burbank.

About 350 attendees, including volunteers, raised more than $67,000 through ticket sales, betting on the Kentucky race and the auction, GAR Executive Director Sandy Doughty said.

Having worked with her since 1998, Doughty is well aware of Coscarelli’s impact on GAR. Always looking for potential donors, Coscarelli sets an example by donating her own money to the organization, Doughty said.

“The clients love her,” Doughty said. “They all jump out of their seats [when she visits]. She loves this organization. She’s always thinking of GAR.”

Coscarelli has a similar presence at Rancho San Antonio Boys’ Home in Chatsworth, where she has been serving on the board of directors for 18 years. The facility aims to provide care for boys aged 13 to 17 who most often exhibit issues related to abuse or trouble with the law, Coscarelli said. The home also has an independent living program that provides accommodations — on the condition that rent is paid and an education is pursued — for young men who can no longer be funded by the state after their 18th birthday but have not yet found a place to stay.

“A lot of these boys don’t have good families,” Coscarelli said. “A lot of them don’t have homes to go back to.”

Coscarelli has been running Rancho’s annual golf tournament benefit since its initiation 14 years ago. This effort is in addition to her work on the home’s medical service program, donor search, nutritional evaluation in the dining hall and shelter program for which she has helped raise nearly $1 million, Rancho Director Brother John Crowe said.

“Suzie is a go-getter,” Crowe said. “There aren’t a lot of people that can step up to the plate. You can give her an assignment and she’ll get it done.”

Despite her not having any children, Coscarelli has invited some of the boys to her home for holiday dinners with her family — a tradition she has extended to clients at GAR.

“It just makes me feel good,” Coscarelli said about how one such GAR client is now considered a part of her family. “I truly, truly enjoy it.” She does not plan on slowing down her service any time soon, either.

“She’s a lifetime volunteer. It’s something that’s part of her,” Doughty said. “Some people are just born to help others — that’s Suzie.”