Volunteers are essential to helping to facilitate FREE classes that provide valuable information to children about body safety. Facilitators make a one-year commitment to teach at least 4-6 classes a month.
It's a great opportunity for those with free time during the day and a heart for kids. Get to know these people who are making an impact in our community!
Barbara is a retired professional motivational speaker and trainer, training teachers on classroom discipline and then helping adult children supporting their aging parents. She loves helping others and has channeled that into volunteering in a variety of roles during the past 50 years. Barbara volunteers with several Fairfax County programs, and she is new to the Body Safety Program in 2023. Her other passions include traveling with her husband of almost 50 years, and fostering puppies with Lucky Dog Animal Rescue.
Teresa is retired from a 30+ year career working with children and their families. She was employed as a social worker by the City of Alexandria, Department of Social Services and then by Prince William County Schools. Since retirement, Teresa has volunteered with the National Park Service, the National Museum of American History, Fairfax County Park Authority, INOVA Stonebridge Vaccination Center, and Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit fair trade retail store.
Teresa became very concerned about the impact of the pandemic and online classes on children’s development, health, and safety. In 2022 when Teresa saw that Fairfax County Family Services was recruiting volunteers for the Body Safety Program, she decided it was time to put her MSW degree back to work and return to the schools. Teresa wanted to help support students and teachers in any way she could. She has been delighted to see that students continue to be bright, curious, and eager to share and to learn. Teresa has found teachers to be very supportive of the Body Safety Program and very helpful in connecting it to their students’ prior learning.
Marilyn Bugg is a 70+-year-old grandparent who became a volunteer in the Body Safety program after learning about a local case of child sexual abuse. Marilyn believes that children need to be aware of abuse in all its forms, recognize that it is wrong, and know how to get the help they need to stop it. She enjoys speaking to children in their classrooms where their teachers can participate in the discussion and help to increase the comfort level and participation of their students. The program can also be effective in reminding teachers of the important role they play in preventing abuse.
Before retiring, Marilyn spent 18 years working in administrative positions at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and at The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. Marilyn and her husband adopted two daughters, and Marilyn spent the next 12 years concentrating on raising her daughters. She spent the following ten years as a teacher in a preschool that mainstreamed children with disabilities. She and her husband are now enjoying their retirement and time spent volunteering.
Georgia Hubert, a grandmother of four, became a volunteer in the Body Safety program to ensure children learn at an early age about safe adults and not keeping secrets, relating to abuse of any kind. She enjoys encouraging kids to discuss being kind, ways to prevent bullying, and what to do if they are ever in an unsafe encounter. Georgia likes being able to take some of the pressure off teachers, who play a huge part in identifying abuse in their students.
Prior to her retirement, Georgia spent 40 years at the U.S. Department of State as Director, Federal Assistance and traveled extensively to over 150 overseas embassies. She and her late husband raised two daughters and now she spends time volunteering, walking her three dogs and working out.
Sora has been a facilitator with the Body Safety program in Fairfax County since summer 2022. Sora has a passionate interest in using clinical mental health to help individuals lead a more comfortable life. She has experience working with students as an advisor and a teacher. Sora loves to be creative and bring different ideas together when solving a problem. Recently, she graduated from the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. She is continuing her studies in pursuit of a Master of Education with a goal of working in the field of mental health counseling.
Karen Lane loves working with children. She was a Sunday School teacher for many years, and now she volunteers as a mindfulness instructor in an elementary school in addition to volunteering with the Body Safety program. Karen believes the Body Safety Program is critically important in helping children identify abusive situations and how to get help as needed. She finds the students in these classes are very engaged and thoughtful about child abuse.
Karen is a Rhode Island native who settled in Northern Virginia with her family when her husband was stationed at the Pentagon. She had a long career with ExxonMobil at its headquarters in Fairfax which gave her the opportunity to travel overseas to many countries. Now retired, Karen spends most of her time volunteering. Her other favorite activities are practicing yoga and kayaking.
Zachary “Zack” Lowe is a recently retired FBI special agent and veteran with extensive experience protecting children online, locating missing children, and working with international partners to stop human trafficking.
He is an award-winning investigator who received the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) Award in 2001. Zack subsequently led FBI online coordination with NCMEC for two years where he had the opportunity to design FBI investigative operations targeting online offenders.
Throughout his 22-year career as a special agent Zack has focused on education and has provided child exploitation investigative training to law enforcement and health care providers. He continues to provide advice on law enforcement topics as a guest lecturer for graduate and undergraduate students but has found his most challenging audience in Fairfax County classrooms!
Zack enjoys his opportunity to help protect children and work with the outstanding Fairfax County staff who serve the community every day through the Body Safety program.
Mike Mason was born in Louisiana, spent his adolescence in Pittsburgh, and moved to the Washington D.C. area for college at Georgetown University. He has been in this area since then, earning an international affairs degree from the G.U. School of Foreign Service. He also attended University of Maryland University College to become a CPA.
Mike spent over 30 years in federal government contracting. He was also a Dale Carnegie instructor, teaching effective speaking and human relations.
Mike’s volunteer work includes co-facilitating a co-parenting workshop to help parents help children cope with divorce, holding various committee chair positions, and serving on the board of his synagogue. In addition to facilitating Body Safety classes, Mike also volunteers with the Department of Family Services’ Parenting Education Programs.
“I feel like I have a responsibility to try to leave the world a better place. I am not the person who will discover the next breakthrough in science or technology, but if I can help one adult become a better parent or empower one child to stay safe in a dangerous world, maybe that major breakthrough will come from them.” Mike mused. “Who knows? All I do know is if no seeds are planted nothing will grow.”
Dr. Dan Otchy, the proud grandfather of 10 great kids, is a retired surgeon who served 21 years in the U.S. Army Medical Corps and 19 years in group practice in Fairfax. He volunteers teaching the Body Safety program because he is very much aware of the prevalence of child abuse in our society, and he wishes to do his part to protect children.
Dr. Otchy also volunteers with the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps administering COVID Vaccines and serves at his church in various ways. He stays active playing softball with the Northern Virginia Senior Softball League.
Leila Raminpour, MPH has been a Body Safety Program volunteer since January 2022. Having two nieces in first grade in a Fairfax County Public School, Leila understands the importance of the educational outreach that the Body Safety Program provides. When she and her fellow FCPS classmates were in elementary school, this program just wasn’t available.
Leila has studied public health at both George Mason University and George Washington University, and she has worked in both the occupational health/safety and clinical support fields. Leila has recently returned to school to pursue a career in the clinical field. In addition to the Body Safety Program, she volunteers with the Virginia Medical Reserve Corps providing administrative support to COVID-19 vaccination clinics and serving as a Farsi translator for Afghani refugees. Leila is excited to continue teaching the critical Body Safety curriculum in the 2022-2023 academic year.
Karthika was born in Sri Lanka, raised in New Jersey, and came into adulthood right here in Fairfax County. Time away from full-time work has afforded her the wonderful opportunity to volunteer for a number of causes benefiting the health and wellbeing of families and children. As a volunteer with the Body Safety program, Karthika gets to engage with our youngest students to educate and most importantly, empower them to be advocates for themselves and their peers. She finds it an immensely rewarding experience and each time she volunteers, she is awed by the intelligence, curiosity, empathy and humor exhibited by these amazing children. She strives to make a difference in their lives and appreciates the difference they have made in her life.
