Volunteers honored for service
Laura Schlangen wasn’t going to let retirement slow her down. After leaving her job as a school secretary in Mead in 1992, she decided to give time to the community. She now has clocked about 15,000 volunteer hours – and she is still at it.
“It just keeps you active and it’s very fulfilling,” she said. “The Lord has been good to me so I like to give (something) back.”
Schlangen, 75, volunteers at the Corbin Senior Activity Center. She’s a receptionist, a tour guide, a board member and a membership coordinator. She helps edit the center’s newsletter and is in charge of making sure that its 2,000 copies are distributed to all the right places each month.
“It’s almost like having a full-time employee, she’s so capable,” said Christa Richardson, Corbin’s director. “She knows everybody in town … she’s the best advertiser we have. I’m just in awe of her, especially her generosity.”
Schlangen’s work doesn’t stop there: Aside from the 100 hours a month she spends at Corbin, she also volunteers at Center Pointe, a recreational and educational facility for people with disabilities, and is on the Fourth Memorial Church board.
Schlangen’s was one of 27 volunteers to receive a President’s Call to Service lifetime award at the Spokane County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program annual luncheon Friday. The award honors volunteers who have committed more than 4,000 hours of service in their lifetime. More than 500 senior volunteers also garnered the President’s Volunteer Service Award for giving at least 100 hours in the last year. Almost 300 of the volunteers attended the festive Mexican-themed lunch at Brookdale Park Place on South Park Road.
Award winners received a pin, a certificate and letters from President Bush and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation. President Bush called on all Americans in 2002 to donate their time and skills to their communities as a demonstration of the nation’s spirit.
A program of YMCA of the Inland Northwest, RSVP is part of the national Senior Corps which helps link people over the age of 55 with volunteer opportunities. RSVP’s Director Clint Kruiswyk said senior volunteers help to expand and improve what nonprofits can do in meeting local needs. The value of the work they do has been estimated at over $17 an hour, he said.
He said that in 2004, RSVP’s 880 volunteers put in 216,000 hours in different areas such as literacy programs, public safety, environmental conservation and even knitting. Through RSVP’s Project Warm-up, volunteers knitted and crocheted more than 4,300 pieces that were distributed to the needy around the Spokane area, he said.
“Our seniors go everywhere in the community. They have such a wealth of knowledge,” said Christine McCabe, chairwoman of RSVP’s Advisory Council.
She said seniors, for example, have been instrumental in fostering literacy and education among young people.
“I love that multi-generational impact. So many of our kids need other adults in their lives that are lacking,” she said, adding that while she sees volunteers from all age groups, seniors seem to really understand the value of giving to the community.
Some volunteers have been at it for a long time, like 92-year-old Mollie Brown, who also received a lifetime award. Brown, who is deaf, has been a volunteer for 28 years, serving a long list of causes.
Brown said it is the smiles she sees and the friends she’s made over the years that make it all worth it. She believes she is here for a purpose and hasn’t let life’s tribulations such as early childhood accidents and her daughter’s death dampen her resolve.
“I survived, here I am,” she said. She added that a lot of people limit themselves by saying “I can’t.”
“How do you know if you don’t (try) and just say ‘I can’t,’ ” she asked.