HACKENSACK, N.J. -- "I definitely want to do something where I'm helping people and giving back," he said.

One of his students is severely autistic with limited motor and speech skills and feared the water at first.

"I've seen him grow since he was 8, when he wasn't able to swim at all," said Breslow. "He couldn't talk then. Now he's 15, and he's saying words and swimming in the deep end."

Carlson a lead horse handler at Pony Power Therapies in Mahwah who helps disabled children learn to ride, said she's grown from the experience - just as the riders have. A few weeks ago, Carlson helped a girl with cerebral palsy get on a horse for the first time

"She was so scared at first. Then she got on and relaxed. It was incredible to see the progress she made," Carlson recalled.

Horseback riding helps children with a range of disabilities gain body control, said Carlson, who said she had witnessed incredible things happen when children climb into a saddle.

She's also noted changes in herself. "I feel like I'm gaining so much from this," she said. "I've learned a lot about how to handle myself. I've gained self-confidence. This is a happy place for everyone."

One 85-year-old beneficiary of the Visiting Homemaker Home Health Aide Service of Bergen County said volunteers shop for her and visit her in her mobile home in Mahwah every week.

"It's the greatest thing because I was at a point where I could no longer carry stuff," she the woman, who lives alone and uses an oxygen tank. "The volunteers come in very cheerfully. They don't just buy me food; they come in and chat. They pick up my vitamins. It's too good to be true."