Rock Rapids, Iowa — April is National Volunteer Month.
The late President George H.W. Bush’s vision of 1,000 points of light, which he shared in his 1989 inaugural address, helped mobilize volunteers across the country. He founded Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, with a mission to encourage millions of people to take action and change the world.
In the United States, this month is dedicated to recognizing the importance of volunteering and honoring the significant contributions volunteers make by generously donating their time and talents to worthy causes. But during this pandemic, volunteering looks a little different.
In Rock Rapids, the Chamber of Commerce also acts as a de facto clearinghouse for volunteering opportunities. Chamber and Recreation Director Angie Jager says the pandemic has NOT caused any decline in the number of people wanting to volunteer.
(as said:)”I actually have a list of 40 and more volunteers that have contacted me that say hey we are willing to help out. Just give me a holler and I will help out in any way. I have actually probably been using eight to ten of them almost on a daily basis getting groceries for people.”
She says the monthly ATLAS Ministries Bread of Life Food Distribution needed some volunteers with pickups recently and she helped with that too.
But, she says, she knows that being out in the community means risk during this pandemic.
(as said:)”I’m wanting to keep the volunteers safe. So I do have masks that I’m offering them that people have made and also I have disposable rubber gloves here I’m offering them. And then we’re just simply asking them not to go in the house of the person that they’re delivering groceries for. We’re such a close welcoming community that everyone in the beginning was, you know going right in and setting them right on the counter and that’s great. But now we’re kind of just asking our individuals to stay at the front door and you know not go in their house.”
Jager says no matter what the situation, pandemic or no pandemic, she’s always connecting people with volunteer opportunities.
(as said:)”I’m running volunteers almost all year long whether they’re coaching a little league team for me or planting flowers or on the Heritage Days Committee… But honestly, we have not had any events here since probably the middle to end of March. So as of right now, I have not needed to utilize any more volunteers. We are still waiting to make a decision on Heritage Days. And then we are still waiting to hear from Iowa’s Ride on the decision that they will make. So again, we have everything ready to go as far as we can and we’re just kind of at a standstill for some decisions to be made.”
She says they hope to know soon how things will pan out and if they’ll have to put their plans on the shelf for a year or if they’ll be able to go forward.
Jager tells us why people should consider volunteering.
(as said:)”It’s just a good community thing to do. Like I said, we are a close-knit community and pretty much everyone knows everyone and it just seems like I have a lot of people that have retired and they’re still looking for something to do and it’s just a good feeling to go get groceries for someone or go grab a prescription for someone or even just help out at an event.”
She says it’s volunteers that make a community run, and she doesn’t take volunteers for granted.
(as said:)”A big thank you to all the volunteers, especially now in this uncertain time with the coronavirus going on.”
If you’d like to volunteer, you can check with your community leaders, your school, your church, your community action agency, and many other places, as volunteers are always needed somewhere.
