Celebrating National Volunteer Week! Board member Sarah Levin Goodstine shares her personal grief journey and why she chooses to serve Good Grief.

I am proud to serve Good Grief as a member of the Board of Trustees. After the sudden loss of my mother, I began my personal journey with grief, and learned quickly the sense of isolation it can bring. Joining peer-led grief groups helped me to recognize the many ways grief can manifest, and with support, validation, and learning, I was able to integrate the loss into my identity as a source of motivation and growth. As the poet Mary Oliver says of grief, “It’s not the weight you carry but how you carry it—books, bricks, grief—it’s all in the way you embrace it, balance it, carry it when you cannot, and would not, put it down.” As we know, our society often treats grief as a weakness—an impediment. We try to erase it, avoid it, and return to “normalcy” as quickly as possible. Yet, this strips grief of the power it has to be a beneficial part of the human experience, one that fosters connection and transformation. That is why Good Grief’s work is vital. Good Grief understands that healing happens through connection and collective sense-making. In our 20-year history, the talented team of staff and volunteers have developed a robust network of New Jerseyans who facilitate Good Grief’s Nights of Support and camps, trained school districts and educators on supporting grieving students, and built community-based programs to deliver culturally-sensitive support. The impact Good Grief has made with families in New Jersey is evident in the stories of strength and resilience each family has to tell. And through the power of these individual stories, change is happening—it is no accident that New Jersey became the first state to mandate grief education in our public schools, which is a powerful step towards changing the way our society views grief. I look forward to continuing to help Good Grief amplify its impact, supporting and helping create change for more families in New Jersey and beyond.