VOLUNTEERING: Don Alhart
TV personality continues intense volunteer work as a matter of principle
By Mike Costanza
Don Alhart has long been guided by a kind of principle he learned as a child.
“If you want to feel good, do something for someone else and do more than they ask,” said the 80-year-old former television news anchor, newsman and executive.
Alhart has acted on that maxim down through the years, giving his time and energy to many nonprofits and worthy causes even while working full-time in television news. He retired last June as the associate news director of 13WHAM, but hasn’t stopped volunteering for a host of local nonprofits.
“A lot of the obligations, charity-wise, that I have done, that’s continued,” Alhart said. “If anything, they’ve probably increased a little bit.”
On Tuesdays, you can find Alhart doing an entertaining “newscast” for fellow members of the Rochester Rotary at their regular lunchtime meeting.
“We still do a ‘news update’ every Tuesday, give a few of the headlines and the weather and stocks and share a funny story,” the longtime Rotarian said. “I’ve been doing that, probably, since 1977.”
He also gives longer talks on important subjects to Rotary clubs around the area and supports the service organization’s many projects, especially the Rochester Rotary Sunshine Camp. Last February, he appeared on social media as part of Sunshine Valentine, a fundraiser for the 157-acre Rush, New York, camp that serves adults and children with disabilities and Rochester youth.
“You…buy a valentine for your sweetheart and raise money for the camp,” Alhart said. “I did a little video for that.”
Alhart also showcased the Rochester Rotary Sunshine Camp in some of his “Bright Spots,” the short, uplifting features with which he ended almost all of his television newscasts at 13WHAM. In recognition of his longtime support, the camp’s recreation center now bears the name “Don and Mary Alhart Bright Spot.” Mary is Alhart’s wife.
Alhart has also emceed fundraising events for Advent House, a Fairport hospice and for the HUGS Foundation, Inc., which sends volunteer surgeons to Ecuador, Vietnam and Guatemala to treat children who have congenital facial deformities. Last October, he was the guest speaker for the annual ladies’ luncheon and fundraiser at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church. Alhart said he wore his Penfield High School jacket to the Greece church’s event, which featured music from the 1950s and 1960s, records hanging from the ceiling and a DJ.
Other nonprofits have also benefited from Alhart’s assistance or support as well. In 2020, he self-published a children’s book, “Sibley’s Christmas Adventure.” Sibley, the principal character, is a mouse who lives on the fourth floor of the now-defunct Sibley’s Department Store. All of the proceeds from the book’s sale go to The Arc of Monroe, which serves those who have intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
The desire to give to others has even taken Alhart back to his old job, in a way. Though he’s left 13WHAM, he still records the station’s Community Connection broadcasts, though he does it in his home studio for free.
“It’s a short, 10- to 15-second public service announcement,” Alhart said. “Keep the voice out there on the station.”
When asked if he intends to continue volunteering for nonprofits and good causes in the coming years, Alhart spoke as if it is his duty to do so.
“I attribute a lot of whatever success I enjoy to being involved in the community,” he said. “I think I still need to fulfill the obligation.”