Senior centers say ‘thanks’ to volunteers

 

By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com

EAST ROCKINGHAM — Mark Reeves spends a lot of time at the Hamlet Senior Center. And the volunteer gets plenty of work done, but only around playing a number of pranks on staff and visitors.

Keys, pocketbook, “if you can’t find it … Mark!”

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com Judy Tyndall presents Millie Wright, a volunteer at the Hamlet Senior Center, with a certificate of appreciation Saturday morning.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Judy Tyndall presents Millie Wright, a volunteer at the Hamlet Senior Center, with a certificate of appreciation Saturday morning.

Louise Ledbetter, of course, was joking. The items were only temporarily moved as Reeves works in part to lighten the seriousness of the work that means so much to seniors who aim to stay active and healthy. Ledbetter and other Richmond County Aging Services employees, including Executive Director Jacqueline Welch, warmly thanked some four dozen volunteers that selflessly log so much time and effort at the senior centers in East Rockingham,  Hamlet and Ellerbe during an awards breakfast on Saturday in East Rockingham.

Breakfast foods were donated by Biscuitville, Bojangles, Henry’s Uptown Cafe and Hardees, and after nearly four dozen volunteers were presented with certificates of appreciation, many joined in a game of Bingo.

“Without volunteers, I would be lost,” said Judy Tyndall, who oversees the Ellerbe Senior Center.

Tyndall is the only paid worker in Ellerbe, and volunteers are the catalyst to being able to serve between 20 and 30 seniors on a regular basis, including homebound individuals.  Volunteers help prepare and serve meals and help clean up and, every once in a while, keep the center open if Tyndall is in training or is ill.

“If it wasn’t for you guys’ helping them, we couldn’t do it,” Welch said.

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com Hamlet Senior Center volunteers

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Hamlet Senior Center volunteers

Welch asked that volunteers begin filling out time sheets over the next 12 months. The extra work wouldn’t lead to a paycheck, but would help the administrator substantiate the work being done on the behalf of those 50-and-older across Richmond County at no cost to county government.

In addition, “whoever has the most documented volunteer hours could win a nice little prize” at next year’s volunteer appreciation, Welch said. “It just helps to show the community, the county commissioners … anyone in Richmond County what you all do for the senior centers.”

Volunteers honored Saturday by senior center staff, including Welch, Tyndall and Ledbetter, along with Donna Luther, and Peggy Fan, include:

Ellerbe Senior Center
Mary Shepard, Dee Dee Briggs, Beth Covington, Ann Elkins, John Moore, Barb Parrish and Edith Poff, along with five other volunteers with the Mallard Lane group home.

East Rockingham Senior Center
Ruth Black, William Black, Juanita Bourgeois, Annie Conner, Veronica Ellerbe, Elijah Gales, Shantea Gaskins, Clifford Hudson, J.T. Legrand, Mandy Luther, Gerald Mabe, Hal Maree, Ethel Peele, Martha Peele, Chris Powell, Howard Richardson, Jackie Smith, Vernon Stubbs and Rick Thrower.

Hamlet Senior Center
Mary Baker, Daisy Brown, Dot Cannon, Tommy Ewing, Richard Lunceford, Valarie Lunceford, David McCall, Jane McCall, Ronald Nicholson, Nancy Quick, Mark Reeves, Joyce Santas, Evelyn Snow, Jessie Spell, Robbyn Sumpter and Millie Wright.

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Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com East Rockingham Senior Center volunteers

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
East Rockingham Senior Center volunteers

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com Ellerbe Senior Center volunteers

Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Ellerbe Senior Center volunteers

 

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