Have you ever looked at the definition of volunteer? You’ll find some of the following:
A person who voluntarily offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking;
A person who performs a service willingly and without pay;
A person whose actions are not founded on any legal obligation so to act

I would believe that many, if not all of our staff have done volunteer work in some form from the time you were younger. It’s a contribution each and every one of us can make, and it can make such a terrific difference to the recipient of your time. Think back - did you volunteer to help with something when you were school age? Many young children are so eager to be selected to do a project, lead a group, or share a talent - and we need to continue to encourage volunteering to start at a young age. We are lucky to have a number of young individuals willing to make visits to our senior housing units. It may be through a piano recital, reading to one of our residents, playing a game, or even visiting. As we age, our abilities may change, but the spirit of volunteer doesn’t change. Being young is certainly not a prerequisite to volunteering; just look around and you’ll see we have volunteers who are in their 90’s and still sharing their time with others.

Today, many of you volunteer by contacting our legislative representatives on health care initiatives; you may share your talent such as playing piano or being a part of a larger group who contribute to our organization; and I’m positive that plenty of you volunteer at school and church. There’s probably a hundred examples, and I’m confident that all of you could make an impressive list if asked to compile the information. PAHCS is like so many other entities- we rely on the spirit within everyone to want to help another person, no matter how.

During this month as we express our appreciation and gratitude to our volunteers - I thank all of you for your contribution of volunteering regardless of who receives it and how you deliver the time. Our communities depend on volunteers, organizations like ours depend on volunteers, our schools depend on volunteers and many, many more examples all depend on the giving spirit that volunteerism represents. Please join me this month in thanking all of our wonderful, dedicated volunteers! And don’t forget to thank one another too!

DuDonne Andrie