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Twenty years ago, Lynn Swavely was making waves in her community. And she still is.
Swavely, the former Lynn Benfante, earned the Sandy Nininger Medal, the top Key Club award in the state of Pennsylvania in 1994. The Sunday Dispatch featured Swavely in its “Spotlight” section on Sunday, June 26, 1994.
Volunteering has made Swavely’s life complete, leading her to where she is today. She contributes that to her leadership success at Pittston Area High School in the early 1990s.
Over the last two decades, Swavely has traveled the United States and visited several destinations across the globe. She’s now a sales executive at a large company. But without Key Club experience during her younger years, some of that may have never happened.
“For me, it was all about giving back to the community,” she said. “It was something I enjoyed doing. It was really a leadership opportunity for me and my high school to help out the community.”
Getting involved early
Swavely, 39, who grew up on Columbus Avenue in Pittston and now resides just outside of Philadelphia, was the president of the club for two years at Pittston Area. She joined the club in her freshman year and distinguished herself as a “Key Clubber with a task to perform,” according to the 1994 Sunday Dispatch story. Swavely was nudged by then-moderator Patricia Schillaci to become more active.
She did just that.
Swavely volunteered at Pittston Area’s former Ben Franklin Kindergarten Center once a month, took part in Auction 44 during WVIA’s pledge week and never missed a club car wash.
By her junior year, she was elected club president.
During her first year as president, Swavely oversaw the club’s numerous activities. She rang bells for the Salvation Army, ran a booth at the Children’s Art Festival at the Kingston Armory, accompanied children from the kindergarten center on a field trip and assisted with the local Kiwanis club’s Adopt-A-Highway program.
She didn’t have much time to relax in her senior year as she volunteered more than 1,400 hours during the year. That was more than enough to convince a panel of District and Kiwanis judges that she was the top Key Club member in the commonwealth.
Thanks to the teachers
All of the aforementioned projects shaped Swavely’s life but she quick to admit she wouldn’t have been succesful without the help of Schillaci and Theresa Babonis.
“They were very big drivers,” Swavely said. “They taught me to be a leader and told me to always want to do more for others. They taught me the qualities of leadership. I would not be where I am without those two women.”
Swavely had both Babonis and Schillaci as teachers at Pittston Area. Schillaci has since retired, but Babonis is in her 33rd year in the district and is now a kindergarten teacher at the Pittston Area Primary Center.
Schillaci said Swavely put the Pittston Area Key Club on the map.
“There’s no other word that describes her but dynamo,” Schillaci said. “She had the utmost respect from the members of the club. As hard as she pushed them, they knew she was working twice as hard.”
Babonis echoed those praises.
“Lynn is a phenomenal girl,” she said. “If we wanted to sell 100 Krispy Kreme donuts, she would say we have to sell 200 donuts. ‘No’ was never an answer. She had very high standards for herself and her peers.”
Schillaci said the club once raised more than $25,000 with Swavely as president.
Still giving back
Currently, Swavely volunteers with Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the United Way, Cradles to Crayons, which helps Philadelphia-area children with school supplies; and Junior Achievement, through which she helps inner-city high school seniors with their senior projects. She also works with them to get into college.
Most of the programs are based in the heart of Philadelphia, she said.
“It’s the community aspect of it,” she said. “It’s giving back to those that aren’t as fortunate as I am. The things that I participate in, most of them are children-related. I like to try to involve myself to feel like I can be a good influence on children and go to school to send them on the right path.”
Following graduation from Pittston Area, Swavely received her bachelor’s in business. She then earned her MBA from Drexel University. She’s worked for Vanguard outside of Philadelphia since 1998 and is currently a sales executive.
Through that employment, Swavely is on the road 65 percent of the year, she said. But she also finds time to travel outside the country.
Along with a friend, Swavely has seen the world. The two have traveled to Thailand, Bora Bora, Singapore, Hong Kong, Croatia and Europe. The only two continents she hasn’t touched are Antarctica and Africa. She said she has a trip in the works to visit South Africa.
Swavely was married in the U.S. Virgin Islands to her husband, Brian. They currently live in Malvern.
Family is a big influence
Swavely is the daughter of Len and Carol Benfante, of Pittston. Her sister, Lisa Paraschak, of Dallas, has two children. Kiera is 14 and Cody is 19 and just beginning college. Cody graduated from Lake-Lehman, while Kiera is currently a student there. The two have been a huge part of Swavely’s life, she said.
“For me, being a huge influence for them is a big part of who I am,” she said. “They’ve been a very large part of my life.”
She couldn’t forget the influence her parents had on her and admitted her father wouldn’t settle for anything negative.
“My parents were a very big part of driving me to always wanting to do more,” she said. “I never was taught to settle for anything. No was never an answer for me.”