THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 24, 1994 TAG: 9411230261
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 30 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 201 lines
A CHANCE MEETING brought Rita Walker and Ginny Rusbuldt together as business partners, but it was a shared conviction to help the less fortunate that will guide them Thanksgiving weekend.
Not long ago, the two were working as tele-marketers for a Virginia Beach company when Rusbuldt casually mentioned to Walker that she was cleaning the house of a friend.
Intrigued by the remark - who, after all, doesn't have enough work around the house to last a lifetime? - Walker asked about the job. Rusbuldt said she actually liked cleaning and soon enough the two were talking about starting a cleaning business.
The result was Ready Maids, a small but thriving cleaning business.
Fast forward to this holiday season and the two women find themselves wanting to act on their Christian beliefs by helping others in need. So this week the two cleaned the homes of several others who, through illness or age,were unable to clean for themselves.
``We would like to give back some of what's been given to us,'' said Walker, a single mother of two. ``God's been good to us and we'd like to give back. We'd like to do this as a way of saying thanks. We're thankful that he's helping us get our business off the ground.''
Getting the business up and running was not easy, and there's no guarantee that it's a permanent fixture. Competition in this trade is tough, but they are determined.
``A lot of them don't last because of competition, or the way they're managed, or the owner tires of the work,'' she said.
``I am a divorced, single parent and I put my children through school and college. If it had not been for God and the way he looked after me, I would not have made it.
``If there is some way I can help people who are disabled - by cleaning their houses, then it's a way I can show how thankful I am for what he has done for me.''
For Ginny Rusbuldt, the motivation also is drawn from experience.
``Both of my parents died in the last three years,'' said Rusbuldt. ``They were in their early 80s. I used to tidy up their house all the time. You know, the elderly just get where they can't do as much. Their health is going downhill. So we just wanted to help anyone who has been ill. It just takes it out of you, especially if you're older.
``Some people are shy of older people, but I just love them to death.'' WESLEYAN STUDENTS GIVE UP A MEAL FOR THE HUNGRY
Students with dining hall privileges at Virginia Wesleyan College are being given a choice to skip a meal and help feed the hungry this Thanksgiving holiday.
The option came in the form of the Rev. Scott E. Davis, the school's chaplain, who roamed outside the dining hall during lunch this week engaging students on moral grounds, asking whether they'd like to skip lunch.
Those who do will register the identification number on their meal card with the food service company that prepares the college's food.
The company, Wood Food Service, will then calculate the cost of the meal and send a check to Oxfam America, the American branch of the international relief agency.
``The event we're participating in is called `A Fast for a World Harvest.' We've done this for several years,'' Davis said. ``We're fortunate to have a food service company that cooperates with us. We have gotten as many as 150 to 200 students to cooperate in the past. We don't know what the numbers will look like this year, but we're hopeful that we'll have at least 100.''
Among those who were happy to skip a meal was Nicolas C. Puga Jr., a 22-year-old student of international studies and of French.
Born in the United States, Puga has deep ties to Peru where his mother, once a young Peace Corps volunteer, met his father. His family still has relatives in Cajamarca, a town in the Andes Mountains in northern Peru.
``It's inside of me,'' Puga said of his decision to fast one day. ``Making a small effort to help others is something that satisfies my personality, my soul.
``It's for others that I'm doing this, and I think that will make me a better person. And it feels good.''
Puga has often traveled to Peru where he has seen firsthand the special poverty found among certain mountain people.
``My family has gone through its share of crises,'' he said. ``Fortunately, we never have been left with nothing to eat, but a lot of people around me, a lot of friends, have suffered. I've seen people with malnutrition and people in an incredible state of poverty. Knowing the wealth we have in this country, knowing that I can always eat, definitely makes me want to share it.
``I try continuously to think of people who have less,'' he said. RESTAURATEUR PLANS MEAL FIT FOR KINGS FOR THE HOMELESS
He was an aspiring industrial engineer when the lure of Italian cooking proved more tempting than helping run a small airline at New York's Kennedy airport.
But a soured business deal not long after he moved to Virginia Beach and the harsh reality of being short of cash has prompted Michael Scaramellino Sr. to give thanks this Thanksgiving by feeding the homeless.
And what a meal he promises.
The menu planned for the 17th Street homeless shelter today is the same Scaramellino would serve at any of his four restaurants: La Brocca, Aeros Sea Grill, Cafe Iguana and the Captain's Table.
On tap are a mixed green salad, turkey soup with elbow pasta, an oven-roasted turkey, rice stuffing with mushrooms, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, squash, zucchini, pumpkin cake, apple strudel and homemade napoleon and coffee.
So consuming is the feast that he must close La Brocca and Aeros to have the necessary staff to prepare the food for an estimated 150 people.
``The meal is exactly the same thing that we would serve in our restaurants,'' he said.
Scaramellino goes through the trouble of feeding the homeless not out of any altruistic motives to repay his adopted country - he was born in Sorrento, Naples and came to the United States in 1960 as a tourist - but because of what happened here, long after he became a citizen, long after he had proved himself an adept restaurant manager.
He's cautious about the details, saying only that a few years ago he invested in an Oceanfront restaurant with a former sister-in-law but the deal soured.
One day, he said, he went to work and the locks had been changed.
``I was out on the street with only a few dollars,'' he recalled. ``I didn't have any money for three or four months. I went through some ups and downs in my life, and when I reached the low point was when I came to know the needs of poor people.'' WEST BANK NATIVE THANKFUL FOR PLO-ISRAELI PEACE ACCORD
A decade ago Elias A. Dabeet was stomping around the dusty city of Ramalleh on the West Bank of Jordan, just another disaffected Palestinian living under the watchful eye of the occupying Israeli army.
The holder of a master's degree in mathematics from Birzeit University, the leading Palestinian institution on the West Bank, Dabeet often found himself shut out of campus and forced to teach underground.
``Whenever something happened, the army closed the college campus,'' said the 38-year-old, who is a teacher at Tidewater Community College, having moved here in 1992.
Now on the day when Americans give thanks for all blessings, Dabeet finds himself a world away quietly giving thanks for the peace accords signed in his homeland half a world away.
``I am thankful to God for his generous gift of peace, for letting the entire world witness the miracle that took place on Sept. 13, 1994, the signing of the declaration of principles between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
``I am also thankful to God for another historic moment that took place a few weeks ago, which was the signing of another peace accord between Jordan and Israel. I pray to God that we will see another miracle in the near future, which would be a peace accord between Syria and Israel. This is part of my dream and prayers.''
Through the 29 years he lived on the West Bank, he tried hard not to allow his heart to harden.
``The only solution to any of the misery that anyone has is peace,'' he said. ``This is what we need. We cannot afford more misery.''
To show thanks and to take part in some small way in a traditional American holiday, Dabeet said he is donating money for several needy families. SOCIAL SERVICES RECIPIENT RETURNS THE FAVOR TO THE AGENCY
Barbara Ballard knows something about gratitude.
With six children to care for - including two newborn twins - the Virginia Beach woman and her husband on occasion have asked Social Services for help during the holidays.
The agency has been happy to oblige, providing the Deer Wood Trace family with Thanksgiving meals and toys for the children during Christmases past. Now Barbara is returning the favor by volunteering her time, and that of her two oldest boys, to help Social Services improve the holidays for other families in need.
``We've gotten help before and we want to give something back this year,'' said Ballard, a certified nurse's aide. ``I'm not able to do it financially, but I thought it would be good to volunteer some time.
``You know, a lot of people say bad things about Social Services, but they have helped us a lot over the years. I'm not complaining.''
In fact, the Ballards will once again receive help from Social Services. While Jeffery Ballard works, his job as a night-shift security officer for a Norfolk computer company only brings in so much money. Couple that with his diabetes, and the budget is often stretched to the limit.
``I brought the older boys here to work,'' Barbara Ballard said. ``They are good kids. They can cook and clean. One of them made the honor roll and one plays the violin. We're pretty strict with them. We don't let them run the streets.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by MORT FRYMAN
On the Cover: Beach restaurateur Michael Scaramellion Sr. and his
son, Michael Jr., have weathered some tough business times, but
today they'll be feeding the homeless.
Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Rita Walker, left, and Ginny Rusbuldt turned a love for helping
others into a money-maker - Ready Maids, a small but thriving
cleaning business. ``God's been good to us and we'd like to give
back,'' Walker says. ``We'd like to do this as a way of saying
thanks.''
I am thankful to God for his generous gift of peace, for letting the
entire world witness the miracle that took place on Sept. 13,
1994,'' says Elias A. Dabeet, now a math teacher at Tidewater
Community College.
Staff photo by MORT FRYMAN
Michael Scaramellino Jr., left, and his father, Michael Sr., will
close two of their restaurants - La Brocca and Aeros - to have the
necessary staff to prepare the food for an estimated 150 homeless
people.
by CNB