Volunteer Spotlight
Arnie Rosenshine, Information Technology Volunteer
When Arnie came to CVIM in early 2021, he wasn't looking for a volunteer opportunity. He was looking for a COVID-19 vaccine.
A Buffalo native raised in State College who had recently returned to the area, Arnie was grateful for the opportunity to be vaccinated at a time when appointments were difficult to find. With a background in medical physics, he wondered whether his experience might also be useful to CVIM. So while receiving his first dose, he asked the volunteer provider a simple question: Could CVIM use another volunteer? Three days later, he was put to work.
Arnie joined CVIM's COVID-19 Vaccination Data Entry team during an extraordinary period when the organization was providing more than 40,000 vaccine doses to the community in addition to its regular patient care. He worked closely with Finance & Technology Director Becky Schrope and eventually helped manage the vaccination data entry team.
As the need for mass vaccination clinics began to wind down, Arnie didn't.
Instead, his volunteer role evolved. By late 2022, he was helping with CVIM's day-to-day technology needs and planning for the move to the clinic's new home on Sandy Drive in State College. Today, he continues to help keep CVIM's technology running smoothly and securely, troubleshooting problems, supporting technology needs at events, and helping protect the sensitive information entrusted to CVIM.
The move to Sandy Drive remains one of his proudest memories. CVIM doubled its space and resumed patient care after just one scheduled week of downtime.
“It still amazes me that we managed to move from our old clinic, double our size, and resume patient care in just one week,” Arnie said. “A testament to the dedication of our entire team of volunteers and staff.”
But ask Arnie what keeps him coming back, and his answer has less to do with technology.
“Helping CVIM and our patients is an honor, the most important work I have ever done. It is a daily reminder of the essential human decency of helping our neighbors and of the principle that access to medical and dental care should be a basic human right, not a privilege reserved for those who can afford it.”
Finance & Technology Director Becky Schrope and eventually helped manage the vaccination data entry team.
Becky Schrope works with Arnie regularly and says he never gives up until he has found the best solution to a technical problem. “He is a joy to work with and a dedicated volunteer. We are very lucky to have him.”
And the feeling is mutual. “I take great pride and comfort in working with a team of like-minded volunteers and staff, all dedicated to CVIM's mission,” Arnie said. “More than colleagues and friends, they are like a second family.”
That sense of connection continues today. Arnie can be found solving a technology problem one day, making sure things run smoothly at a CVIM event another, or sharing a laugh with fellow volunteers and staff.
CVIM is an important part of Arnie's life, but hardly the only one. A licensed pilot and scuba diver, he has also been involved in broadcast and amateur radio and once volunteered with a hyperbaric chamber that treats diving injuries. And on quieter days at CVIM, you may hear classical music drifting from his desk in the Server Room.
Like so many CVIM volunteers, Arnie brings a lifetime of interests, experiences, and expertise with him when he walks through the clinic doors.
What began with a COVID-19 vaccine in 2021 has become years of service to the community where Arnie grew up.
And his message to others considering volunteering is simple: “Your work at CVIM will truly make a difference in the lives of our patients and your colleagues here.”
