Woman Making a Difference: Lynn Zwerling
by Ginny Robertson
[On Purpose Woman Magazine, Feb/Mar Issue]

Lynn Zwerling fills a room when she enters. The flashy scarves she throws around her neck are just a hint of her passion for life. I chose Lynn as this issue’s Woman Making a Difference because, where she has shown up, Lynn has made the world a better place. Her quirky philanthropy provides a great example for women who want to make a difference, but feel they don’t have enough wherewithal to have an impact.

I asked Lynn where she got her natural tendency to give. She said, “In the 1950’s, when I was growing up in Denver, it was the Ozzie and Harriet era, and I had a mom who was no Harriet. She was a feminist. There wasn’t a frilly apron to be found in our house. One of my earliest memories of my mother’s philanthropy is being so, so young and watching Korean War veterans being lowered out of their iron lungs into the water at an indoor pool. My mom wasn’t a physical therapist, but she just got it into her head that teaching these vets how to swim would be a good idea. And if she thought it was a good idea, there was no stopping her.”

“We were always different from other families. We took “people”—meaning “Commies,” blacks, lesbians, etc.—into our home and fed them when they were down on their luck. There were always meetings and signs and protests—civil rights, the war in Vietnam, women’s reproductive rights, Democratic campaigns, Zionism. We were a wonder to the neighbors; they looked at us a little funny sometimes. At the same time, though, it was a very traditional Jewish home, where charity and doing for others was always implicit. I remember when I had my tonsils out at age eight or nine, and there was a little kid in the bed next to me who wasn’t getting any visitors. When my family, all noisy and laughing, arrived with wonderful puzzles and toys, I insisted they give all the toys to that kid.”

Knowing that she has been involved in a variety of charitable projects, I asked Lynn to talk about the ones that have meant the most to her. She replied, “The most satisfying project I’ve been involved in is the Hope Doll Project, and I think that’s because it was just me and my best friend Gayle. No formal organization or affiliation. Our goal was to give back.  Our kids were gone. We both had jobs and other responsibilities, but we thought that we still had some of that old-fashioned mothering in our souls, and it would be good to spread it around. Good for us. Good for our grown up children. Good for the community.”

The Hope Doll Project helped women to make “Hope Dolls.” These unique and fabulous folk art pins were then sold at area shops and shows. The women who made them were amazed that someone would buy what they’d made, and felt great about the funds going back into the women’s programs. Lynn explained, “We began first at a women’s shelter at Catholic Charities and then at My Sister’s Place. It was just Gayle and me—or sometimes just me. It wasn’t so much the making of the Hope Doll pins, as it was being there with other women—who were different in all ways from the two of us.  Still, we were all people, all women, all at one table, all working on one project.  It was very powerful. We promised ourselves that we weren’t trying to change the world, that this was just a little time given to a community, but the experience was profound.”

“Close to my heart is the underpants drive that we, the Women of On Purpose Networking (OPN), had. It was so successful.  I asked everyone to go out and buy underpants in all sizes and styles—pretty things that teenage girls would enjoy wearing. We took them to the Sykesville Shelter, where young women spend time as an alternative to jail. These girls come to the shelter with literally nothing, and they work out their problems and serve their time. Now, they leave with new stylish underwear, socks, and toiletries. I think everyone had fun shopping and sharing. Also, every year, MileOne is a major sponsor of the Making Strides walk for the American Cancer Society. This last time, instead of just asking one more time for a donation, I gave everyone who contributed $30 a genuine Lynn-made scarf. We raised hundreds of dollars, and we all had fun strutting our stuff wearing our foxy, femme scarves.”

I asked Lynn what she would say to women who are looking to make a difference but don’t feel they have a lot of time. “To do something that matters”, Lynn answered, “you need nothing more than your own two hands. Doing good does not require you to sit on a board of directors or chair a committee. It just takes the desire to reach out. Anyone can make the effort.  No matter what your talents are, or how much time and money you may have to give, there is something out there that will fit you.

“I’ll give you an example. Not long ago, I was in the doctor’s office and there was a really ancient man sitting there.  He asked about the book I was reading. We got to talking, and he told me that he had always so loved to go to the library, but it was hard to get there now.  So, I told him, ‘Next time I go, I’ll come and get you.’ ‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said, and shyly laughed.  But I did, and he turned out to be an interesting guy.  He’d written a book, was a former university teacher, loved ice cream, and I fully enjoyed his company.  When he died last year, his son called to say that our trips to the library had made his old dad feel good, young, useful. He loved my company and I enjoyed his. It wasn’t as if I didn’t have other things to do, but time spent with him felt really good.”

Lynn spends her workdays with a highly skilled creative team developing and maintaining the web site for MileOne. That’s the corporate voice and face of Atlantic Automotive, one of the nation’s largest regional retail automotive groups. Lynn has more than 16 years in the business, and she has no problem supporting MileOne’s people-centered mission that gives customers access to the car industry on their terms. She says, “I am lucky to have a job that depends on me and my wildest whim to get a project originated and completed.  I never in a million years would have imagined that my creativity, my hippie dippy crafty ways, would ever find a niche in the car business.” Lynn and husband Pete—her “total opposite”—have raised two boys in Columbia, Maryland. Lynn proudly says that they have “grown into fabulous men who give back, too.” Each year, Lynn and Pete try to plan “one glorious trip” together. This year, it’s a trip on their Harley that will take them to 22 states in 15 days. Lynn was the recipient of the second annual Woman of Purpose Award from On Purpose Networking for Women in 2002.

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