Volunteers are the Best Winners

A couple of weeks ago I sent out a newsletter to celebrate the release of my novel An Appalachian Summer.  I hope if you got the newsletter, you enjoyed reading it. If you didn’t get it, you can sign up to be sure not to miss the next one here on the form in the margin of my website. I’d be glad to send you a copy of the recent one too, should you like to receive one.

I always do a giveaway in my newsletters and I also usually ask for some kind of story or comment. This time, since Piper in An Appalachian Summer, was a volunteer with the Frontier Nursing Service in Leslie County, Kentucky in the 1930’s, I asked readers to share about their own volunteer experiences or about a special volunteer they knew. The stories that came in made me smile and realize how very generous most people are as they give their time and resources to help others. Here are a few of their comments.

First from Sonnetta who found the joy in volunteering.

“One of the best moments of volunteering is when you realized that you get more out of it than you give. Watching the children in one of the poorest sections in Dominican Republic reminded me of the meaning of gratitude. There were so happy with the little that they have because to them it was not so little. There was a joy there that you cannot get from materials things.”

Connie learned about the fun of volunteering from her grandmother.

“Volunteering can be very enjoyable. When I was younger, I would stay a week with my Grandma. She volunteered with a local hospital gift shop on Saturday evenings. When my family would visit, she would get someone to cover for her, but when I stayed by myself, she gave me the option of going with her. I really loved it. I got to work the cash register, and meet lots of the people she saw each week (hospital employees). It’s a great memory that I have of her and time we spent together. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

I’m sure you’ve seen those cookbooks some churches print of favorite recipes. Well, somebody has to put that all together. Jeanne gave the gift of her time and ability to make one of those cookbooks for her church family.

“One volunteer project I really enjoyed was chairing the cookbook committee from our church. That was fun (okay maybe the proofreading wasn’t so fun), but organizing and encouraging families to share their favorite recipes. I submitted one for each of my children in their name, and when they have a place of their own, I will give it to them.”

Loved hearing from Bev in North Dakota. Always fun to know what state my readers live in. Bev reminds us of how rewarding it can be to volunteer.

“Hi from North Dakota! I volunteered at the East Grand Forks Campbell Library after the flood of 1997 and the Fergus Falls Library where I lived during the flood of 1997. I worked at the Fergus Falls Library in the afternoons while my daughter attended Kindergarten. I also did some volunteer office work for Special Olympics in Grand Forks (mailings, computer work and making medals). Since I was doing volunteer work, my daughter was able to come with me. She enjoyed going to the East Grand Forks Library (age 4) and would play quietly (or watch a movie) while I worked. It was a very enjoyable time of my life. If one can financially afford it, volunteer work can be very rewarding.”

I love how Robin learned about volunteering from a dad who had a servant’s heart. Sounds as if his example has made Robin know the pleasures of volunteering.

“My dad used to work with the county Food pantry. I grew up filling food boxes and attending food drives.  MY dad was huge into volunteer work, so I was too. I have also volunteered at schools and the Kentucky Book festival. I am in Grad school getting my masters in library science and I started volunteering at the Kentucky Historical Society too. ” 

Annette tells about some of the pluses and potential difficulties of volunteering.  Her story made me smile because I could imagine having the same problem of wanting to buy the good bargains at the thrift store.

“I volunteered at a store/donation center sponsored by a group of churches. Every Saturday I would go to the store and go through the donations, and set things out in the correct areas. My problem was, I never left to go home without shopping. I was starting a new life and there were things I needed for my apartment. And there were clothes that I loved.

I eventually needed to quit volunteering there. One of the reasons was the fact, I was not able to keep up working 6  days a week. The other reason, was economically if I continued after the first year and a half, I would have had to get a second job in order to afford to volunteer.”

And last we hear from Laura about the sunshine she no doubt brought to the people in a care facility when she was a high school girl.  Young people do bring a special kind of energy and joy to older people.

“In high school, we volunteered at an Alzheimer’s home and had fun doing puzzles, visiting, and singing with the sweet adults!”

These are only a few of the volunteer experiences many of you shared with me. We are a people who do like to help and what a difference that makes in our towns and churches.  The newsletter contest is closed for this time. I’ve picked the winners of the prizes by a random drawing using Random Number Generator. One first prize winner of a horse print ruffly apron and her choice of a book went to Nancy in Ohio. She picked my book, The Gifted, since she’d read most of my other books. Love that, Nancy. Lisa of Kentucky picked Angel Sister. She had also read most of my books but she loved Angel Sister. She’d let someone borrow her copy and hadn’t gotten it returned. So she was happy to win a new copy of a favorite book. Laurel of North Dakota wanted my new release, An Appalachian Summer, and so did Gary of Arizona. Gary said he and his wife had read most of my books. He is a retired law enforcement officer who read my Hidden Springs mysteries first, then read more of my stories. Love that. I always think it’s fun when more than one person in a family read the same book so they can talk about the stories together. I ended up doing a lot of smiling as I packed up those prizes. I still haven’t heard from one of the winners, Shirley R. I’ll e-mail her again and then pick a new winner if I don’t hear from her in another week.

I was a little late picking the winners and announcing them here. It’s been a week for grandkid visits before school starts back up. So fun to have time with the grandchildren. On those days you have to shove back the other things on your to do list and simply enjoy your time with them.

So do you think volunteering is important? Does it make a difference in your community or in your own life? 

Thanks for reading.