Last Saturday afternoon (a gorgeous day, you will remember), Jean and I attended Arlington’s Annual Volunteer Appreciation Reception at the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association Building on Wilson Boulevard in Ballston.
It was a remarkable day. At least four hundred happy people were crammed into the NRECA auditorium, which the association generously makes available for community functions. There were Arlingtonians from all walks of life, ages, ethnic groups, and races.
The reception is held every year to honor and recognize the almost infinite number of volunteer activities and organizations in Arlington. More than three thousand Arlington citizen volunteers work in county-related programs and probably more in non-profit organization activities. At least five hundred are members of the more than fifty advisory committees and commissions appointed by the County Board.
The awards for outstanding service were reflective of the huge variety of volunteer activities in the county. More than one hundred fifty people listed in the program received certificates for serving two hundred fifty hours or more in the last year.
The ten individuals and organizations honored are reflective of Arlington’s rich volunteer programs.
Thomas “Randy” Bender was recognized for his thirteen years of service to the Inmates in the Arlington County Detention facility. Bender has contributed more than one thousand hours coordinating volunteers for religious services and bible study.
Bernice Reilly was cited for her twelve years of service to Arlington’s senior adult programs. She works the front desk of the Senior Adult Office Thursday mornings– responding to fifty to seventy-five visits and inquiries, and working as the center’s data processing “techie,” a vital function in any volunteer organization.
Dave Rooney was honored for his work as a tutor and technical coach in the Central Library’s CyberCenter. He worked nearly six hundred hours at the CyberCenter, which serves at least twenty thousand customers a year.
Larry Taylor works in the Volunteer Guardianship Program of the Department of Human Service’s Aging and Disabilities Services Division, spending one thousand hours as court-appointed volunteer guardian for three incapacitated individuals.
Anthony Schloss is chaplain to the Arlington County Fire and Rescue Association and Deputy Chief of Operations for the Arlington-Falls Church Volunteer Rescue Squad. In 2003, he responded to two hundred fifty-nine emergencies, one for twenty-seven hours during Hurricane Isabel.
Ariel Schwartz was the youngest honoree at age fourteen. She is a Buddy Coordinator and junior coach in Arlington’s TOPSoccer program. TOPSoccer is the United States Soccer Association program for children ages four to nineteen with mental or physical disabilities.
The Friends of the Library Book Stock Team consists of sixteen volunteers who have given nearly twelve thousand hours to the library in the last three years. In 2003 alone, the spent nearly forty-five hundred hours sorting, pricing, shelving and packing more than two hundred thousand donated books – and finding special materials for groups and individuals with specific needs or interests.
Dan and Ruth Levin have given over three thousand hours organizing special events at the Aurora Senior Center. Mrs. Levin also serves on the Commission on Aging and Mr. Levin is treasurer of the Aurora Hills Advisory Committee as well as an active Shriner.
Irene Sherk and Peter Hadley were honored for their Herculean work on behalf of a ninety-two year old woman who had lost her savings and accumulated sixty thousand dollars in debt through a telemarketing scam. Ms. Sherk is a volunteer advocate specializing in money management for seniors. Mr. Hadley obtained the victim’s power of attorney and worked with her to reduce her debt and develop a viable repayment program.
Songfellows is a thirteen voice chorus of senior men who have volunteered a total of more than sixty thousand hours entertaining groups of disabled seniors who can not attend concerts on their own. In 2003 alone, the a capella chorus performed twenty-seven concerts throughout the area.
As great as these honorees are they only scratch the surface of the broad array of volunteer community activities in Arlington. You’ll be in lively and excellent company.