Editorial: Volunteers Are Community
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Editorial: Volunteers Are Community
MT 43 News Staff
I read with great interest Barbara Mutter’s letter to the editor in the MT43News August 11 issue about volunteerism in our communities and how it affects her ambulance service business in Three Forks.
I certainly agree with Barbara’s assessment that volunteers make the community. I think of our own community of Broadwater County volunteers. John and Tamie Hahn” two-handedly” ran the recycling program. Pat Plantenberg and his crew plants an entire community forest. Generations of the Shindoll family serve as fire fighters and put up the lights on the water tower. Countless others who are all very busy people, with children to raise. They make time to volunteer to guarantee the luxuries of a community – support for all in hard times, fun dances, basketball games and great food at potlucks.
But, you say, I’ve tried to volunteer, but I never get a callback, or I hate going to meetings so I won’t volunteer where I have to attend them.
Attention: there are all kinds of ways to volunteer:
If you don’t care to fight fire in the middle of the night, how about reading to kids in the afterschool program, or teaching cake decorating in the Old Baldy Adult Education Program?
Better yet, take it upon yourself to clean up your neighborhood street or road. Maybe seeing a clean highway or road will rub off on someone else who will follow suit. Without being asked.
Take an interest in your local nursing home. Volunteer your time reading to a resident, or just visiting that person once a week. Dorothy Hahn visited the old people until she entered the nursing home herself. She also made treats for the basketball teams and attended every game.
Our hospital/nursing home is chronically short of certified nurse aides who do those jobs. Help out.
How about writing letters to our kids serving in our military? Find out through your church who is serving and how to reach them. A letter from home makes such a difference to a homesick service person.
New in town and would like to get to know folks? Volunteer at the senior center as a ” Meals on Wheels” delivery person. I hear the center has a dynamite Pinochle group after hours….
I work with some of the busiest, most talented volunteers in Broadwater County in the newspaper, and in Broadwater Community Theater. I appreciate how they give so unselfishly of themselves to this community. Besides they have become another great group of friends to me.
The saying ”Who, if not you?” is well taken. We have less of a community if you don’t volunteer in some field you enjoy. Please email Broadwater Community Development, BCDC@mt.net
They will direct you to those contacts.
Nancy Marks
