April is “National Volunteer Month” and that means it’s time to celebrate the amazing volunteers that make the Village such a special and effective organization.
Our Village is a volunteer dependent community – we literally wouldn’t exist without them. The first Village volunteers were our founders who planted the seed of “neighbors helping neighbors.” Today we have 80 active volunteer neighbors who do it all – from home visits to members, grocery shopping, tech tutors, and event planning. Even our board who guide us and ensure our viability are volunteers.
“The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.” - Helen Keller
Volunteers are neighbors like Janice, who once a month organizes information packets that are placed in apartment buildings. Or Devan, our ever-faithful student volunteer who delivers those packets to the 30 or so “Apartment Ambassadors” located throughout our community. And Marilyn, Wayne, Claudia, Ethen, Pat, and Kate who are working behind the scenes on committees or representing the Village at community events and even training more volunteers. And what about the Village events we all enjoy? That’s right – volunteers like Carolyn, Sandy, Marjorie, and Sandy make those look so easy.
Fifteen other volunteers are on our call squad – they check in on members periodically just to be a friendly connection to our community. Our driving team take members to various medical appointments or grocery shopping. Their knowledge of every medical practice in the DMV is unmatched. And our shoppers peruse the aisles of Giant, CVS, and Wholefoods to ensure that members get exactly what they need.
You get the idea – our volunteers are the Village. Each of them has their reason for lending a hand, but I suspect it has something to do with Helen Keller’s observation, “The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves.” It’s a win-win.
From the depth of my being, I want to thank all of the many volunteers who work so hard for others.
P.S. I’ll be off for a bit, but our Assistant Director, Claire Thompson, will provide some her thoughts and insights with you next week. Happy early Easter or Passover for those that celebrate!
Frank Finamore is Executive Director of the Village