In many ways, nonprofits, charitable organizations and churches across the country rely on the work of volunteers to provide services to people, and Northeast Ohio is no different.
Some volunteers in particular keep coming back, week after week and year after year to keep serving their community. Ideastream Public Media recently sat down with several of these volunteers to learn more about them and the work they do.
From the pews to the courts to the neighborhoods
Vikki Jackson, 66, is an evangelist – somebody who spreads the word about Christianity - at Elizabeth Baptist Church in Cleveland’s Slavic Village neighborhood. She volunteers 10 hours a week or more, sometimes much more, for various causes related to the church, and has been doing so since she came back to the church as a self-described “prodigal daughter” in 1996.
“I've never been a benchwarmer, as I call them,” she explained. “I've always been served by following (the parable of) Matthew 25, where he says, if they are hungry, feed them, if someone needs clothes, clothe them. You know, that's the mandate.”
She volunteers for The Haven Home, a transitional shelter for women and children, as well as at the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, providing clothes for young people going through the criminal justice system and preparing them to go in front of a judge. She also stops by local nursing homes frequently to talk to seniors about their faith and to provide a listening ear. While she works for Greater Cleveland Congregations during the election season as a “neighborhood captain,” trying to encourage people to vote, she also volunteers with that organization in the off season, as well.
Jackson said she volunteers so much because she wants to be a good example for her many grandchildren and to create a better world for them.
“I have young brown skinned young men that I want to try to example for, and I have granddaughters," she said. "I want them to know that you're never too old to give back and you should always give. I had a hard childhood. So I just love, love serving.”
Volunteer of the year at Second Harvest Food Bank
Richard Jacquemotte, 87, a retiree who lives in Sheffield, has volunteered for Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio for 10 years. For about a decade before that, the former PNC bank employee volunteered with the AARP, providing free tax services.
For years, Jacquemotte volunteered repacking food that was donated to Second Harvest. These days, he mostly trains other volunteers and delivers boxes of food to seniors.
"I really enjoy seeing the different people that we're helping," he said. "And I like helping the different people out there."
Jenny Rivera, director of volunteer relations with Second Harvest, said long-term volunteers like Jacquemotte have institutional knowledge, which is key; it means the organization can rely on them to organize other volunteers, freeing up staff time.
"Of course, we have to worry about our food getting packed on time and go out to the community, but that volunteer experience is so important," Rivera said. "And Dick helps us create that. He's a part of that, making new volunteers feel welcome."
Jacquemotte received the Jimmy L. Davis Spirit of the Community Award this year, Second Harvest's volunteer of the year award. He’s volunteered over 1,747 hours at Second Harvest, Rivera said, adding she appreciates his sense of humor. While he often teaches other volunteers the ropes, he said he's been schooled himself recently.
"We get the high schoolers in, these young ladies in there, and when we're working on the production line doing boxes, there are these big heavy sections of cans that they have to lift," he explained. "So I said to this girl who went to lift it, I said, 'just wait, one of the guys will handle that,' and then (I hear), 'oh, I can handle that.' So I no longer direct any young ladies. I have found that they want to handle that themselves. So I am learning!"
Providing 'respite from the streets' on Cleveland's West Side
Brian Stefan-Szittai, 61, has been volunteering at the Cleveland Catholic Worker, a collective of volunteers on Cleveland's west side focused on addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness, for almost 20 years. He helps manage a drop-in center on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, providing meals several days a week, along with a warm place to stay for several hours.
“Since 1985, our volunteers have been opening this (center) and inviting folks to come in and get a meal, get warm, get socks, underwear, t-shirts, take a shower, basically just respite from the streets,” he said.
Stefan-Szittai said he volunteers regularly – including at the May Dugan Center in Cleveland and with the music ministry at St. Patrick's Catholic Church – because he believes people should look out for each other.
“There's a lot of good reasons to volunteer. I think for one, it just helps us connect with each other and realize that the only way to move forward and to survive is through community. And how else do we build community? But to get out of our silos and and mix with other people."
Stefan-Szittai said he prizes the relationships he's built during his volunteering, both with fellow volunteers and with those he serves.
"A lot of these people I've known for a very long time," said of the people coming to the drop-in center. "The sad thing is that there's always new people. And I say sad because that means they're facing housing insecurity or other issues that would move them to, you know, to need a place like this."
Helping dogs helps her, too
Carol Siek, 75, a retired computer programmer, has volunteered at the Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter for the last 13 years, walking dogs, feeding them and cleaning cages. She comes twice every week, two hours each shift.
"Being an animal lover, especially dogs, I just love them, and I feel bad for them being confined," she said. "And here we can at least get them out for some fresh air, go to the bathroom, and they have a lot of other things going on here to make their stay here comfortable."
Siek herself has a dog at home, a little Pekingese mix, which she adopted from the shelter; she said it's hard not to get attached to the dogs she meets.
She said she likes working with all of the dogs, but she currently has a soft spot for Madeline, an excitable pit bull terrier mix. Madeline likes jumping on people, including Siek, but she said she's working with her on that front.
“The minute you get here, you see the dogs, you get them out and it just makes you happy,” she said.
She added that volunteering also gets her “out and about,” giving her the chance to get some fresh air and physical activity in her retirement. She suggested that more people should consider volunteering, noting the shelter could always use the extra hands.
“I think everybody should try to give back in some way, you know, (helping) people or children; with me, it's animals,” she said.
