Featured Volunteer: Michele Beneville

If you come into the SVP Portland office, Michele Beneville is likely to be the friendly face who greets you. Michele has been a constant source of administrative support and joy since she first began volunteering with us in November of 2016. What Michele finds most rewarding about her role with SVP is, “Helping the SVP staff behind the scenes, so their job can be a bit easier.” She excels at this, and it likely means that you’ve been interacting with Michele behind the scenes for years through letters and cards, without even knowing it. “My first big task was addressing envelopes for the holiday card to be sent to all Partners and Encore Fellows,” said Michele. “Each year this is a huge undertaking but if you’re like me, you love getting holiday wishes!”

Michele and her husband relocated to downtown Portland from Oregon City, where they had lived and raised their family for 21 years. While in Oregon City, Michele had a part-time job where, in addition to many other things, she managed two grant programs that the city funded. Michele also served on the Oregon City School Board for nine years, and was active in classrooms, schools, and district committees as her children grew. She remained passionate about education, and was initially attracted to SVP due to our Ready for Kindergarten goal.

With the move downtown came a desire to find a new volunteer opportunity. “To help in my Portland volunteer search, I contacted one of my committee members who worked for Meyer Memorial Trust. While she didn’t have any volunteer opportunities at the time, she reached out to her nonprofit folks for me and SVP contacted me. The rest is history,” Michele shared. In her spare time, Michele and her husband and head out to the golf course. She also scrapbooks (though is “several years behind at this point!”) and spends time at their vacation home in Central Oregon. Her daughter and son-in-law live in Bend and are expecting Michele’s first grandbaby, Harper Marie, somewhere around July 2nd.SVP would not be the same without Michele’s support and dedication. We are truly grateful!