Continues to serve others

NEWPORT, R.I.  Solids? Polka dots? Stripes?

It was up to the women at the Edward King House to choose the colors and styles of their nails for the manicures they had done by Julia DelMastro, volunteer at the senior center here and a sophomore nursing student at nearby Salve Regina University. Before COVID-19 restrictions in March last year temporarily suspended these frequent beauty treatments, Agnes Martin, 78, looked forward to something more important than her new solid-red nails — her half-hour of conversation and laughter with DelMastro, 20.

“Julia did a wonderful job on my nails,” said Martin, a married mother of three and grandmother of two, who enjoyed spending time at Edward King House, which provides lunch and recreational activities for area seniors in non COVID-19 times. She also liked the hand massage that DelMastro offered with the manicure, especially appreciated by seniors with arthritis. “We talked about our friends and families. I used to live in Suffern, N.Y. [just north of the Paterson Diocese], so we talked about New Jersey. Julia is so dedicated to us seniors. She will make a great nurse. She gives me hope for the future,” she said.

Over this past year, DelMastro, a 2019 graduate of DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, worked with Edward King staff and other volunteers to keep a social connection with the seniors by offering many activities through videoconferencing. Online, she continued to offer Silver Surfer, a program she helped develop to teach basic technology skills, and led meditation sessions. This month, Salve Regina will recognize her commitment to service by awarding her its Campus Compact Newman Fellowship, which is part of the National Cohort of Community-Committed Students.

“I am honored and shocked to be chosen for the fellowship. So many other students, who were nominated, are doing great work in community service,” said DelMastro, who has served as a senior advocate at Edward King since her first year at Salve Regina, volunteering two to three days a week. The fellowship does not come with funding but with the university’s pledge to support her service efforts. “I want to expand existing programs or create new programs at Edward King, raise awareness of the senior population and get more Salve Regina students involved. I want to help them know and love the elderly, who love to share their wisdom,” she said.

A self-starter, DelMastro helped create Silver Surfer after arriving at Edward King. She teaches seniors tech skills, such as how to take “selfies,” chat with their grandchildren on their smart phones using Facetime video or on videoconferencing, post photos or comments on social media, and download apps on their phone. Before the pandemic, DelMastro taught them face-to-face and wrote out instructions on paper. During quarantine, she has videconferenced sessions and hopes to create instructional videos in the future.

“Julia is patient when teaching seniors how to use technology. She never talks down to them. Julia also makes sure that they learn to use the technology for themselves,” said Carmella Geer, executive director of Edward King, a non-profit center that offered 200 seniors a day lunch and recreational activities before the COVID-19 lockdown.

Once a week, DelMastro conducts a meditation session on videoconference for the senior men and women in the comfort of their own homes. As with many Edward King activities, participating seniors appreciate this online program, especially those who have been isolated during the pandemic, she said. DelMastro still waits to resume her manicures once COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted. She told The Beacon, “The women have the biggest smiles and love showing off their new nails. It’s so rewarding.”

An enthusiastic Geer called DelMastro “a blessing beyond blessings.

“She is a master of small talk and starting a conversation with someone she never met before. She can find a common connection: a place they both visited or a friend of a friend they know mutually. The seniors open up to her,” Geer said. “Julia has a passion to give back to the geriatric population. She never rests on her laurels; she is always coming up with new ideas here. No doubt, Julia will do great things in her nursing career,” she said.

In addition to her work with Edward King, DelMastro serves the special-needs adult population as part of a local Best Buddy program with Learning Unlimited. There, she is paired with David, a 26-year-old, talking with him on the phone and joining him in group activities with other volunteers and buddies, during non-pandemic times, he said.

Nominating DelMastro for the fellowship was Kelly Powers, director of the Center for Community Engagement at Salve Regina, who sat on the committee that chose her. She said the fellowship winner plans other initiatives for Edward King, such as making weekly check-up calls to seniors and taking them to activities on campus less than a mile away, such as baseball games. She also has an opportunity to attend a national service conference in Boston and will be a guest speaker to the incoming freshmen class in the fall to “get them interested in the community,” Powers said.

“Julia serves from the heart — that’s her mission. She will take her work to the next level,” Powers said.

DelMastro takes her cue to serve the community first from her parents. Her mother, Pam, works in special education and served their former parish, St. Catherine of Bologna in Ringwood, as a lector, while her father, Greg, served as an usher. She was graduated from the former St. Catherine School. Now the family, which includes her siblings, Tim, 27, and Kelsey, 25, worship at St. Mary’s Parish in Pompton Lakes.

A resident of Ringwood, DelMastro volunteered as an EMT on the Ringwood Ambulance Corp. and serves as an extraordinary minster of Holy Community with Catholic Campus Ministry at Salve Regina in Newport, R.I., run by the Sisters of Mercy. At St. Catherine, she was an altar server, an Extraordinary Minster of Holy Communion, a member of youth ministry and a volunteer in homeless outreach, she said.

“My parents raised me right — to give back,” DelMastro said.

While at DePaul, DelMastro ran track and field and cross-country, served as an officer in the National Honor Society and was elected to student government. She said that theology classes and service projects at DePaul further inspired her to service. Her parents were involved in the school’s Parents Association, she said.

“News that Julia is receiving a fellowship for her service isn’t surprising. She is the epitome of service to others,” said Russell Petrocelli, DePaul’s principal.