Volunteers

I am a Volunteer, an unpaid, unlicensed worker, who like millions before me on every continent and in every age finds a mission they feel they must undertake because they value their precious time as worth more than money. Someone or something needs them.

Some of us are heroic. We are the Cajun Navy, rescuing the stranded and desperate from their hurricane flooded homes. Some of us are the compassionate. I remember the late Dr George Burris, of Middle Tennessee. Not only a gentleman farmer, but a heart surgeon who collected surgical instruments re-sterilized them  and took them to Africa for his medical charity missions.

Some of us are quiet in our work. We are the elderly woman in a Kroger parking lot, filling her car with day old bakery goods donated to the local foodbank where she will soon deliver them.

We are the Scout Masters who came to The Goffstown Historical Society . Under their eyes, the scouts, both boys and girls, repainted the historical schoolhouse from money they collected from donations . They repaired the aging front porch The Scout masters cut down a thorn tree, climbed onto the roof of the Wait Station to remove a dead ash limb, and taught the young people in their charge that community is important, that citizenship is important ,that giving back is worth more than money. They showed their scouts what responsible adults can be so that one day these boys and girls might emulate them.

We are the thrift shop ladies and the Community Pantry ladies, the people who foster unwanted cats and dogs awaiting adoption. We are the unpaid poll workers at our Town Hall on election days. We are the gentleman who brings his Corgi once a week to a local nursing home and walks the halls to greet the residents grateful for such kindness. No act is too small.

How much more could we accomplish if there were more of us!