As the executive director of the Nassau County Volunteer Center, I see and hear, on a daily basis, the incredible needs of so many in our local community. I also have the privilege of meeting and getting to know some of the kindest, most generous people in our local community whose empathy for others and willingness to do whatever it takes are making a very real difference in the face of problems without easy answers.
I think it is often easy to forget the significant number of Nassau County residents who are one paycheck or emergency away from homelessness, seniors and those on fixed income living in deplorable conditions, and yes, even homeless people, including children, right here in Nassau County. And while volunteerism can’t cure all these problems, the impact of every human being who lends a hand is significant.
Volunteerism is more than the activities willing people sign up for. It is the expression of two things the world could use a lot more of in my opinion – empathy and hope. I have seen the profound impact volunteers have made in the lives of people in Nassau County who continue to struggle to overcome any number of obstacles, be it poverty, health issues, lack of equal opportunities and even emergency situations.
During this past Christmas season through our Adopt-A-Family program, I saw hundreds of volunteers adopt families and seniors in need, several companies opting out of Christmas parties to instead provide a Christmas for those who would otherwise go without. Local churches and corporate partners went above and beyond to assure every family and senior was covered. Many adopted multiple families when other adopters fell through or we received additional families in need.
This kindness found its way to neighboring Jacksonville, when the daughter of a caseworker from one of our partner agencies and her team at the Metro Diner in Mandarin decided to adopt a large Hilliard family her mother had told her about. A grandmother had lost her daughter and was left to care for six grandchildren with little to nothing to begin with, let alone any money to provide Christmas gifts.
A team of waitresses who worked extra hours all year to provide Christmas for their own children came together to help, and just before Christmas, with gifts in hand for all six children and a gift card for food, Alyscia Fife and her 5-year-old daughter Isla delivered Christmas to a home where the porch was composed of lose plywood and exposed nails, with a roof that was nothing more than a tarp flapping in the wind. The only furniture was a lone mattress on the floor.
More recently during some very cold weather, several extraordinary individuals stepped up to help a disabled lady whose mobile home had suffered significant damage from Hurricane Irma. Like many others in our county, she didn’t have the money to pay for the repairs and existing resources were denied because it was a mobile home.
Eric, owner of Eric’s All-American Contracting in Hilliard, went out the day after Christmas and rebuilt the front deck of the mobile home so the resident could safely enter and exit her home. He spent the whole day helping someone he had never met and didn’t charge her a dime.
Others responded to our call for help getting a tarp over a roof that was allowing freezing cold air and rain to pour into the home. The call went out on a Thursday night and by the next morning, retired, disabled veteran John Wren, Gary Probst and Gary’s father-in-law, Jim Yaskiewicz, were working alongside Sharon Jackson, Starting Point Behavioral Health case manager, to successfully cover the resident’s roof in frigid temperatures.
These acts of kindness didn’t change the world, but they changed the reality of human beings in need. The volunteers who gave Christmas to our clients this year didn’t solve the issue of poverty, but they gave the recipients things money can’t buy – kindness, humanity and the realization that somebody cared.
Volunteerism also enriches the lives of those who serve. It changes you for the better when someone cries, hugs you and says “God bless you” for a hat or a pair of clean socks, or when a little boy asks hopefully as he sees a bag of gifts arrive, “Is that food?” It humbles you and instills something we all need to be more mindful of – gratitude.
My work with the volunteer center, as well as many experiences in my personal life, have shown me that sometimes the most important thing you can give someone who is struggling is validation. More than just donations or the time spent helping out, volunteerism is a powerful way for people who share a community to show those most in need that they matter.
I’ve heard many people say they don’t have the time to volunteer, believing it requires an enormous commitment. But the truth is, volunteerism can be something as small as donating extra canned goods from your pantry, extra toiletries, bottled water or sunscreen to help the homeless, or saving loose change in your car and donating it once a month to a nonprofit of your choice. It can be that one Saturday your plans get cancelled and you call a nonprofit and ask how you can help. The truth is, every little bit counts.
Volunteers change people’s lives by recognizing the value of every member of their community and demonstrating by action the belief that we can find innovative solutions to many issues through service, selflessness and the simple desire to share kindness with our neighbors.