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Despite not having children of her own, Helen Quirini was very involved in Schenectady County day care. She originally represented labor on the Child Care Coordinating Council during World War II. She chaired the Schenectady County Child Care Council and was also a board member of the New York State Child Care Coordinating Council. She worked directly with day care centers such as the Christ Church Day Care center and the Refreshing Springs Day Care where she was an administrator alongside her longtime friend Reverend Georgetta Dix, who founded and ran the center.

Documented in this subseries are the effects of pesticides and other chemicals on human health. Issues and groups featured prominently include Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and the Maternal Infant Network, as well as cancer, and women's and children's health.

As with the work of his own General Electric co-workers, Schaefer collected articles and reports by colleagues outside of his own institution as well. These are an assortment of publications relating directly to Schaefer's own work in areas like surface chemistry, ice/snow studies and cloud seeding as well as peripheral interests in the science world that happened to catch his attention. Please note that many of the articles are reprints, which are reflected in the folder dates.

The materials in this subseries concern housing, energy and development in Schenectady County. Some materials were gathered by Helen Quirini in response to development plans by the Metroplex Development Authority in Schenectady County, Industrial Development Agencies (IDA) and Schenectady Economic Development Corporation (SEDC). Metroplex was created in 1998 to coordinate economic development activities. Several of Metroplex's proposals met with resistance from the public, including the proposal to tear down the Gazette Building on State and Broadway and replace it with a new Department of Transportation office building. Quirini, with others from Preserve Schenectady's Future, filed a lawsuit to save the Gazette Building. Citizens for Preservation and Revitalization (CPR) and the March 19th Coalition were organizations formed in opposition to Metroplex and its proposals. In 2002, the Glenville Energy Park was proposed and Citizens Advocating Responsible Development (CARD) petitioned against it. Quirini gathered other materials as part of activities with consumer advocacy groups. She joined Better Neighborhoods Inc. in 1971, was elected to the board in 1981 and served as president from 1984-1986. She also served on the Consumer Advisory Council of Niagara Mohawk in the late 1980s.

During her retirement, Helen Quirini was extremely active in many organizations for senior citizens on local, statewide and national levels. In addition to work on behalf of the GE Retirees, she served for many years as president of Chapter 490 (Schenectady County) of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) and as president of the Schenectady County Council of Senior Organizations. The files contain meeting minutes, events materials, financial records, correspondence, newsletters and petitions from these two groups.

This subseries documents NYCAP's involvement in workplace safety and health issues particularly, but not exclusively, its work on the Occupational Safety and Health Training and Education Program (OSHTEP). This was a New York State Department of Labor funded program that made up an important portion of NYCAP's budget. NYCAP held numerous training conferences in connection with this program, the main goals of which were to educate workers about proper pest control methods, the health issues and risks of pesticides used in the workplace, along with low-risk pest control alternatives, and workers rights / employers responsibilities.

The main concern reflected in these materials was weed control on roadside and utility rights-of-way (ROW), and NYCAP's advocacy and research on alternatives to herbicides for this purpose.

This subseries contains materials on Integrated Pest Mangagement (IPM), a method of pest control that NYCAP advocated. IPM is defined as "the coordinated use of pest and environmental information with available pest control methods to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage by the most economical means and with the least possible hazard to people, property, and the environment" [http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/ipm.htm]. Most of the materials are centered around schools, particularly the Health Schools Network (HSN). Materials about pesticide / chemical use and related issues in schools, which are not primarily about IPM, are also included. This subseries has been divided into two additional subseries, one consisting of school-related materials, and the other IPM-related materials in other institutions.

This subseries contains documents from different social service and relief organizations in Schenectady County. These include the Human Services Planning Council, the Schenectady Friends of Human Services, the Youth Employment Services Committee, and Quest. It documents their day-to-day activities as well as their contributions to the community. The subseries contains agendas, annual reports, by-laws, correspondence, financials, meeting minutes, news clippings, pamphlets, and reports. It includes information on social service, job referral in the Schenectady area, as well as each organization's efforts to help members of the Schenectady community. It also contains information on Judy Atchinson, a prominent member of Quest who wrote consistently in her blog, which is included in the subseries. Helen Quirini was active with these organizations during her retirement and kept up-to-date with these committees until 2009.