In 2018, Schussheim began volunteering with the Red Cross’ disaster response team. In 2019, he joined SCORE, an organization that pairs small businesses with experienced mentors for free. He is also a volunteer SCUBA diver for the Newport Aquarium, and, most recently, is a volunteer zipline and rock climbing instructor for the Miami County Park District
Schussheim says his wife, Debra Flynn, is the reason he started volunteering. Before the two had met, Flynn was working on completing Red Cross training to join the Disaster Response team. Flynn, who was a social worker at the time, wasn’t able to complete the training. However, when she met Schussheim, she knew he was a great fit, and “coaxed” him into beginning training shortly after he retired.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
“When he was looking for something to do, just knowing his tenacity with everything that he does, I was like, oh my goodness, this is perfect for him” said Flynn, who nominated her husband a Dayton Daily News Community Gem.
Driving an emergency response vehicle, Schussheim has been across the country, including Florida, New Orleans, and North Carolina, often delivering food door to door. Earlier this year, he also went to Indian Lake to to help tornado victims.
Schussheim describes volunteering for the Red Cross as “hands and heart” work, getting to deliver food and connect with hundreds of people. For “head, hands, and heart” work, Schussheim uses his experience at Proctor & Gamble to mentor small businesses at SCORE Dayton.
“He is literally busier now than he was when he was working” said Flynn.
Through SCORE, Schussheim helped launch DaytonServes.org, which connects over 400 nonprofits in the Dayton area in need of volunteers with interested people. The website seeks to emphasize small, neighborhood charities as much as it does larger ones, including organizations community members have never heard of.
“You have the Red Cross or the big guys, or you can have the mom-and-props,” said Schussheim, “the first thing we do is we introduce the community to the nonprofit.”
Schussheim grew up in Brooklyn and moved to Cincinnati in 1990 to work for Proctor & Gamble. He retired in 2018. Debbie worked in child welfare, first as a manager for Child Protective Services and then at Choices foster care, before working at Care Source. Currently, she is a yoga instructor, teaching at the Troy-Hayner cultural center.
Both Alan and Debbie were previously divorced, and they met one another “purely accidentally” at a social event in Centerville. Neither Alan, who drove from Mason, or Debbie, who drove from Troy, wanted to make the drive in an early April snowstorm. However, both of them chose to go anyway, stumbled upon one another, and got married in 2018.
“I was mad. I didn’t want too be there. And four years later we got married.” said Flynn.
Schussheim and Flynn live in Troy with their cat, Fifi. They have five children and five grandchildren. Schussheim continues looking for more opportunities to give back to the community, having started a new role as a volunteer zipline instructor for Miami County Park District this year.
“Once I retired, it was like ‘Okay, how do you give back? What’s your encore?” said Schussheim. “Giving back is really what it’s all about.”
About the Author