Michelle
11-19-2006, 11:05 PM
Scuba instructor dives into volunteer work (http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061119/NEWS02/611190317/1070/NEWS02)
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 11/19/06
BY BONNIE DELANEY
STAFF WRITER
When December rolls around, Stewart W. Snyder III dons his Santa Claus suit and white beard. If it's Easter, he brings out his Easter Bunny costume.
But when the two holidays that Snyder has costumes for are over, the 57-year-old Jackson resident is likely to don his wet suit, swim fins and mask and teach injured soldiers or special-needs adults and children how to scuba dive.
Snyder's many ways of giving back to the community are why he is this week's Asbury Park Press Hometown Hero.
"He is such an amazing person. We were so lucky to meet him," said Tracey Ruffini, of Point Pleasant. She and her husband, Ray, met Snyder when they learned to scuba dive.
"He's been such an inspiration and a mentor to both Ray and myself. He made us want to continue with our training because he has such excitement and love for the sport," Tracey Ruffini said.
"He has the ability to see in other people what they can accomplish even before they set out to do it themselves," Ray Ruffini said.
After Snyder returned from an October trip to the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, where he taught wounded veterans to scuba dive through the Wounded Warriors Project, Tracey Ruffini thought his efforts should be recognized, so she contacted the Asbury Park Press.
In June, Snyder was asked to help out by doing a Discover Scuba Program for the Wounded Warriors Project, a group that helps families of those who have been wounded, injured or killed during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the program, Snyder and other volunteers equipped more than 30 veterans and their family members with scuba gear to experience the feeling of weightlessness in the water at Breezypoint in Queens. The first day was a success, and arrangements were made to continue with eight veterans who wanted to become certified scuba divers, Snyder said.
The veterans were trained in the home swimming pool of a New York City firefighter, but it was too cold for the group to do their open water dives in Jamaica Bay, so plans were made to send the group to Bonaire.
Six veterans and their wives, girlfriends or a family member went, along with a group of instructors. The trip was funded by the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, Adams Unlimited, Wounded Warriors Project, Disabled Sports USA, Captain Don's Habitat in Bonaire, the Bonaire tourism board and government and many local businesses on the island, Snyder said.
During the week the group toured the island and visited the reefs after the veterans were certified.
"The only scare underwater I had was when one of the veterans, Sgt. Adam Kisielweski, a Marine from Wisconsin, decided to take off his mask and remove his regulator at the same time underwater," Snyder said.
"I rushed over to him, put the regulator back in his mouth and handed him his mask," recalled Snyder, who said he is protective of his new divers.
Snyder said he first worked with special-needs individuals through the Lakewood Elks Lodge 1432, of which he is a member. He also has served as chairman of the lodge's handicapped children committee.
He said Robert Daullary of Underwater Discovery in Toms River invited him to bring some of the children to the pool to swim and try scuba.
"The day went great, and all 15 children made it to the bottom of the pool and didn't want to leave. After seeing this and their smiles, I became a Handicapped Scuba Association instructor," said Snyder, who has been in the water with more than 1,000 disabled individuals.
Every Monday he travels to the Northeast Community Center in Philadelphia to teach scuba diving to patients from Albert Einstein Medical Center and Moss Rehabilitation.
"One patient has cerebral palsy, and when she wasn't able to hold a mouthpiece in her mouth, I got her a full face mask to use so she was able to dive," he said.
Snyder also teaches CPR courses to staff at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township and has worked as a multiskilled technician in the emergency room.
He is an EMT and rides with the Farmingdale-Howell First Aid Squad and is the Emergency Management Officer for Howell Township.
The 1968 Jackson Memorial High School graduate was born in Philadelphia and lived in Wilmington, Del., before he moved to Jackson at age 13.
He was involved with the Lakewood Jaycees program in the 1970s, served as a Pop Warner and Little League coach in Lakewood, and joined the Lakewood Elks in 1985.
Besides playing Santa Claus for the Lakewood Community School for more than 30 years, he was an underwater Santa Claus at the state aquarium in Camden from 1993 to 2003.
Snyder said he's also worked as a paid volunteer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency during hurricanes.
"I worked in community relations, helping people to get the right information so they can file for help," he said. "I was down on the Gulf Coast for 5 1/2 months after Hurricane Katrina."
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 11/19/06
BY BONNIE DELANEY
STAFF WRITER
When December rolls around, Stewart W. Snyder III dons his Santa Claus suit and white beard. If it's Easter, he brings out his Easter Bunny costume.
But when the two holidays that Snyder has costumes for are over, the 57-year-old Jackson resident is likely to don his wet suit, swim fins and mask and teach injured soldiers or special-needs adults and children how to scuba dive.
Snyder's many ways of giving back to the community are why he is this week's Asbury Park Press Hometown Hero.
"He is such an amazing person. We were so lucky to meet him," said Tracey Ruffini, of Point Pleasant. She and her husband, Ray, met Snyder when they learned to scuba dive.
"He's been such an inspiration and a mentor to both Ray and myself. He made us want to continue with our training because he has such excitement and love for the sport," Tracey Ruffini said.
"He has the ability to see in other people what they can accomplish even before they set out to do it themselves," Ray Ruffini said.
After Snyder returned from an October trip to the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, where he taught wounded veterans to scuba dive through the Wounded Warriors Project, Tracey Ruffini thought his efforts should be recognized, so she contacted the Asbury Park Press.
In June, Snyder was asked to help out by doing a Discover Scuba Program for the Wounded Warriors Project, a group that helps families of those who have been wounded, injured or killed during combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
During the program, Snyder and other volunteers equipped more than 30 veterans and their family members with scuba gear to experience the feeling of weightlessness in the water at Breezypoint in Queens. The first day was a success, and arrangements were made to continue with eight veterans who wanted to become certified scuba divers, Snyder said.
The veterans were trained in the home swimming pool of a New York City firefighter, but it was too cold for the group to do their open water dives in Jamaica Bay, so plans were made to send the group to Bonaire.
Six veterans and their wives, girlfriends or a family member went, along with a group of instructors. The trip was funded by the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association, Adams Unlimited, Wounded Warriors Project, Disabled Sports USA, Captain Don's Habitat in Bonaire, the Bonaire tourism board and government and many local businesses on the island, Snyder said.
During the week the group toured the island and visited the reefs after the veterans were certified.
"The only scare underwater I had was when one of the veterans, Sgt. Adam Kisielweski, a Marine from Wisconsin, decided to take off his mask and remove his regulator at the same time underwater," Snyder said.
"I rushed over to him, put the regulator back in his mouth and handed him his mask," recalled Snyder, who said he is protective of his new divers.
Snyder said he first worked with special-needs individuals through the Lakewood Elks Lodge 1432, of which he is a member. He also has served as chairman of the lodge's handicapped children committee.
He said Robert Daullary of Underwater Discovery in Toms River invited him to bring some of the children to the pool to swim and try scuba.
"The day went great, and all 15 children made it to the bottom of the pool and didn't want to leave. After seeing this and their smiles, I became a Handicapped Scuba Association instructor," said Snyder, who has been in the water with more than 1,000 disabled individuals.
Every Monday he travels to the Northeast Community Center in Philadelphia to teach scuba diving to patients from Albert Einstein Medical Center and Moss Rehabilitation.
"One patient has cerebral palsy, and when she wasn't able to hold a mouthpiece in her mouth, I got her a full face mask to use so she was able to dive," he said.
Snyder also teaches CPR courses to staff at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township and has worked as a multiskilled technician in the emergency room.
He is an EMT and rides with the Farmingdale-Howell First Aid Squad and is the Emergency Management Officer for Howell Township.
The 1968 Jackson Memorial High School graduate was born in Philadelphia and lived in Wilmington, Del., before he moved to Jackson at age 13.
He was involved with the Lakewood Jaycees program in the 1970s, served as a Pop Warner and Little League coach in Lakewood, and joined the Lakewood Elks in 1985.
Besides playing Santa Claus for the Lakewood Community School for more than 30 years, he was an underwater Santa Claus at the state aquarium in Camden from 1993 to 2003.
Snyder said he's also worked as a paid volunteer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency during hurricanes.
"I worked in community relations, helping people to get the right information so they can file for help," he said. "I was down on the Gulf Coast for 5 1/2 months after Hurricane Katrina."