During hard times and with high gasoline prices, volunteers still come out to help.
Volunteers from the New North Citizens Council help sort toys at the Baystate Medical Center annual Community Toy Drive last week in the medical center's Chestnut Conference Center. The two in front are Sandra Munier and Terry Rodriguez. Standing, from left, are Elizabeth Santos, state Rep. Cheryl A. Coakley Rivera, D-Springfield, Iris Feliciano, Yoan Marrero, Eva Vasquez and Carlos Rodriguez.Economic slowdown or not, nonprofits and other agencies that serve people in need in the region say they have been blessed with a multitude of volunteers.
“We had 36 volunteers come to distribute toys in the Toy for Joy campaign, compared to 20 who showed up at the same time last year,” said Maj. Thomas D. Perks, co-commander of the Salvation Army’s Greater Springfield Citadel.
The numbers of families signing up for toys also increased, so the volunteers were very useful, said Perks “There is an overwhelming need,” he said. Along with the Greater Springfield Citadel, Salvation Army units in Holyoke, Westfield and Greenfield participated in the holiday campaign.
“The Salvation Army had a great response by volunteers during the tornado, and many of those people have returned,” Perks said.
He added that the Salvation Army has seen a decrease in the number of volunteers who hold red kettles and ask for donations for the Army’s traditional fund-raising effort outside of stores during the winter holidays.
“We need more volunteers for our kettle collections,” he said.
Rebecca Moriarty, executive director of the Hampden Senior Center, said the center is blessed with many devoted volunteers, but has an increasing need for more volunteers to drive elderly residents to the senior center and to doctor’s appointments, to pick up prescriptions and go on other shopping errands.
“The numbers of people who have to give up their driver’s licenses as they age keeps increasing,” Moriarty said.
“We have dedicated volunteers, but we can’t meet the need,” she added.
The senior center is unable to reimburse its volunteer drivers for gasoline, but if people give donations, the senior center will periodically give the volunteers gasoline gift cards to help with the expense of gasoline.
“Gasoline is very costly,” Moriarty said. “We have some volunteers who will drive in town, but are not willing to go out of town to take elderly residents to Springfield for doctor’s appointments,” she added.
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in December in Massachusetts was $3.32, compared to $3.01 a year ago.
The senior center has a group of volunteer drivers, but the one person it has relied upon the most is Joseph Lawrence.
“We try not to rely on him too much because he has many favors he has already promised to elderly residents,” Moriarty said.
In providing drivers, the senior center prioritizes nutrition at the senior center and helping the elderly get to medical appointments, Moriarty said.
The senior center also has a good group of core volunteers who work in the kitchen serving lunch Monday to Friday.
“We try to get additional volunteers, so that people do not volunteer so much that they get burnout,” Moriarty said.
Holly Farrar, executive director of the Community Survival Center in the Indian Orchard neighborhood of Springfield, said her agency, which is in its 28th year and provides food, household goods and clothing to people in need, has very loyal volunteers, some of whom have served for years and years.
Many of the churches in the area supply goods and volunteers to the Survival Center, she said.
“We have many retired people who volunteer. Some stop volunteering during the winter when they go down to Florida, and they come back in the spring,” she said.
Farrar said she expects the number of volunteers will increase as baby boomers continue to retire. “People want to have something to do and to feel productive after they retire,” she said. “They enjoy interacting with others.”
She said the recession has made more people realize they may be only one job or one chronic illness away from a financial crisis.
Patricia Flaherty, a member of St. Elizabeth Church in Ludlow who does communications for the parish, said that last year during the meat pie sale, there was a person who had been laid off from their job but came every day to help with making the pies.
There are a lot of people who volunteer at church, Flaherty said, some of whom do religious education, Parish Council, Eucharistic ministers, lectoring and visiting shut-ins.
The parents at St. John’s Elementary School, which is run by the parish, also are an active group of volunteers, she said.
“There are some people who are lifelong volunteers,” Flaherty said.