If there’s a cause that Wendy Flusser believes in, she’ll pitch in to do whatever volunteer work is needed. A good example is women’s reproductive rights.
Flusser, chairperson of Jews for Abortion Access, worked diligently on the petition drive to get Amendment 3, which would end the Missouri abortion ban, on the November ballot.
Wendy Flusser and women’s rights
“It’s a national initiative of NCJW (National Council of Jewish Women),” she said. “It initially was called 73 Forward” after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion. The court reversed that decision in 2022, sending the issue back to the states.
“When I joined the advocacy team at NCJW, they asked me to co-chair the initiative in St. Louis,” Flusser said. “Every February, when the portion of the Torah comes up that is more applicable to reproductive rights for women, rabbis try to involve it in their sermon or in an activity at the congregation. My role is to bring all that information to them through ‘Rabbis for Repro,’ and I reach out to them with emails.”
Whether it’s knocking on doors, sending emails or making calls, Flusser gets fulfillment out of doing the behind-the-scenes work required for advocacy.
She’s equally at home working with kids of all ages. On a fall morning, she helped lead a group of teenagers through a cleanup project at the Congregation Shaare Emeth mitzvah garden. Flusser, a member of the congregation, got her first taste of volunteering there in 2014.
“I retired 10 years ago, and I knew I wanted to volunteer,” she said. “Shaare Emeth at that time was offering tutoring at Oak Hill Elementary School in the city. Once a week, I went there to tutor kids in reading. Then I started volunteering in the Shirlee Green Preschool. I absolutely love babies.”
Flusser also has led classes through Oasis, a lifelong-learning program for older adults. She works in the Ready Readers warehouse and handles book deliveries. She regularly volunteers for the NCJW Kids Community Closet and Back to School! Store. She sits on the Jewish Community Relations Council’s Jewish Fund for Human Needs allocations committee and is a member of the Shaare Emeth immigration advocacy and action committee.
Flusser is a regular presence at the congregation, which explains why Debbie Bram, director of Jewish Life & Learning, calls her “our ‘go-to’ amazing volunteer. She goes all out and helps.”
The feeling is mutual, Flusser said of Bram, who inspires her to get involved.
“When Debbie sends a request for help with a project, I’m motivated by working with her,” Flusser said. “I don’t like to say no, and I feel at home when I’m at Shaare Emeth. I feel at home when I’m at NCJW, too. Actually, I feel at home where I’m giving back. I’m also motivated to some extent by seeing results. But in some of the volunteer work, you don’t see results immediately.”
The work ethic Flusser demonstrates as a volunteer was honed during her 45-year career. She started out as an administrative assistant at Brown Shoe Co. after earning a degree in education in 1969.
“I learned a lot of skills and moved into customer service and then into project management,” she said. “I’m a workaholic, and I have been both praised and criticized by bosses in the past for being an overachiever. So I often have a hard time saying no.”
Eventually, she went to work in marketing for a division of DuPont that made nylon fiber for carpets. Her clients were design firms, and she educated them on the benefits of her product. The job required extensive travel, so she got to see many interesting places, but she describes herself as a homebody at heart.
Flusser’s need to see a job through to the end is what makes her such an effective volunteer, said Marilyn Ratkin, a 2010 Jewish Light Unsung Hero.
“She approaches her volunteer work as she would any paying job,” Ratkin said. “Wendy can pinpoint the details needed to successfully start and complete a project. She is never overwhelmed by the scope of what is needed, and she maintains a positive attitude from start to finish. Working with her is a joy.”
Flusser said her late father definitely helped influence her volunteer work.
“He was a wonderful role model,” she said. “He worked his entire life really hard and finally ended his working years in a part-time position at age 79, and then he went on to volunteer, and cared for my mom.”
In her spare time, Flusser loves to take walks. She also reads and is a member of a book club. As is typical for a highly organized individual, she always has a new one in queue.
“I have books lined up so that when I finish one, there’s another one right there,” she said.
It may be another example of efficiency for Flusser, who can often be found at her laptop computer, sending emails and managing the day-to-day work of a volunteer. That work pays off in many ways, she said.
“The greatest reward is making a difference and meeting wonderful people, because I think when you meet a volunteer, especially in the worlds that I volunteer in, you’re meeting someone who feels that giving back is important and who strives to make a difference,” she said. “I didn’t know I had this in me, I honestly didn’t. I feel like I almost have — what do they say when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly? — I almost have like a new life right now.”
Shaare Emeth Rabbi Andrea Goldstein also recognized a blossoming from Flusser as a volunteer.
“When she retired, she jumped in with both feet,” Goldstein said. “She really wanted to give her time to her synagogue community and to the Jewish community at large, and she found numerous ways at Shaare Emeth to do that, and she also found NCJW.
“She became very passionate, both in terms of political advocacy and direct service work. It is a beautiful thing to see. It’s a reminder that you’re never too old to try something new, to do something new and to definitely make a difference.”
