Local charitable and nonprofit organizations of all types rely on the generosity of donors and volunteers year-round.  As the end of 2011 draws near, consider a New Year’s resolution that requires you to give something back rather than give something up.

Doing more volunteer work offers immediate social and emotional benefits to those who lend a helping hand.  However, increased volunteerism also creates additional rewards that ripple throughout an entire community.

This entire week, Basin Radio Network will feature different examples of how you can donate your time towards charitable causes.

“Without volunteers we probably would not be here; they are so important,” explains Becky Huff, activities coordinator for the Campbell County Senior Center.  “We have volunteers that host and hostess, greet people as they come in, get them coffee. Our board of directors and our foundation board are volunteers.  And then we have a lot of extra events, whether it be a garage sale, folding newsletters, and we get volunteers for all of that.”

Kay Matheny volunteers at the Campbell County Senior Center. She says the work is extremely rewarding.

“I think it’s very rewarding to come up and just to visit with the people,” Matheny says.  “I hostess out here and help people sign in and help them with their meal ticket or whatever.”

Matheny even finds ways to involve her grandchildren.

“I have some grandchildren that I’m bringing up here to put to work,” she says. “They have to do community service work for Honor Society.”

Karen Nichols also volunteers at the Campbell County Senior Center.  She says retired allowed her to find more time to give back to her community.  Like Matheny, Nichols enjoys donating her time to the senior center.  She says the senior center has a lot to offer any volunteer, regardless of his or her age.

“The senior center has a lot of things to offer seniors, and I would imaging [they] could use all of the volunteers they can get at any age,” Nichols says.  “I don’t think they’re particular.  You don’t have to be a senior to volunteer.”

Likewise, Leitha Anderson finds many things to do around the senior center, including helping seniors use and understand computers.  She says it’s a great environment if you’re looking for somewhere to be social.

“It’s too social to be monotonous,” Anderson explains.  “You see a lot of people and that’s what I like.”

Judy Yelton concurs, and she adds it’s great to have something to do that requires her to get out of the house and meet new people.

“I enjoy every bit of it, and it gets me out of the house, where as otherwise I would just sit home and work jigsaw puzzles,” says Yelton.

Other volunteers like Teresa Brady and Dave Mueller find more unique jobs to do.  Mueller helps with the annual golf ball drop and calls bingo, while Brady takes care of the senior center’s quilting department. Brady says quilting provides an opportunity for her to take some of the volunteer work home, which adds flexibility to her schedule.

“Most of it goes home for quilting, because by the time I get through doing stuff up here I don’t have time to do much sewing,” she jokingly describes.

According to Huff, another great aspect of the senior center’s volunteers is the number of professionals who donate their knowledge and time.  Hairdressers, massage therapists, and individuals who help with tax returns all turn out, along with speakers from Campbell County Memorial Hospital who give presentations.

One volunteer who is well-known in his profession for donating his time is Bob Melvin from the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office.

“I try to have lunch here once a month, sometimes once a week if I can,” Melvin says.  “It’s great to talk to the seniors here; they all have stories to tell. The history is tremendous with folks.”

Melvin says he also ties to help the seniors with any problem remotely relevant to law enforcement.  He also gives presentations on fraud and crime prevention, among other issues to help seniors protect themselves.

“It works out very well because they’re a very vulnerable population, but I’m very proud of our seniors that we’ve had here because they’ve paid attention and listened to what I’ve had to say and they have not been victims as much as the other groups in our community,” Melvin says.

Other volunteers at the Campbell County Senior Center simply want to remain anonymous and not talk about the jobs they do.  Nevertheless, Huff says she sees how much they enjoy volunteering when they return year after year.  In the end, Huff says the people in Campbell County are as generous as any community she’s ever seen.

“Individuals, businesses, everybody in this area is very, very generous and we really appreciate the time that the folks put in,” Huff concludes.

If you would like to volunteer at the Campbell County Senior Center, call Becky Huff at 686-0804.