volunteers

blessing story

Dave

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.  I Peter 4:10

Came for a day. Stayed for years. 

“I came just to help one Monday morning, and ended coming back every Monday for over seven years now.”   Dave, a veteran Good Shepherd Center Volunteer, saw a notice in his church bulletin for someone to help on Monday, someone who could lift 30 pounds. His wife was a volunteer for the Center, but he had never thought about it as an avenue of service for himself until he heard about this specific need. “I arrived to help unload the truck and in no time, two Volunteers began to train me in the procedures in the stockroom.  They just assumed I would be coming back to volunteer every week – and as it turns out, I did! And along the way, I’ve made really good friends with some of the people I still serve with today.”

Natives of Minnesota, Dave and his wife moved to East Tennessee in 2002 after he retired from an engineering management career in the automotive industry in the days of the ‘Big Three.’  The couple retired to Monroe County, but spent about half of the year for almost fifteen years, “footloose and fancy free,” traveling across the country in their 5^th wheel RV. Eventually they settled in Monroe County and become active members of their community.

Invisible hands behind the scenes.

Preparing to help over one thousand clients a month, including four hundred families, with 30,000 pounds of food takes hours of detailed organizing, receiving donations, sorting and inventorying supplies, stocking shelves and filling boxes. It’s the critical behind the scenes work that no one else sees required month in and month out to better the lives of Monroe County neighbors – one client, one family, one child at a time. It takes hundreds of manhours in the back rooms to keep operations running smoothly as families in need rely on a box of food, clothing, shoes, household items, school supplies, even Christmas gifts to make a difference in their daily life. Mondays are also busy receiving and stocking donations from local grocery stores, churches, community organizations, and other non-profits such as the Boy Scouts.

“The need with our Monroe County neighbors is great,” David acknowledges. In a recent first day of the month, Dave said they packed boxes for fifty-eight families. “I enjoy serving our clients and helping them take better care of their families when they’re going through hard times.  It’s satisfying to be there for them every month helping supply basic groceries, as well as providing the extras for families, like a birthday cake for their child in the monthly box, or turkeys and hams at Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Doing God’s work

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.  Romans 12:13

Another important part of the Volunteer experience for Dave is the camaraderie of the team. “The work we do is good and the Volunteers I work with are really good people. The core team has become friends who, alongside with serving together, enjoy getting together outside of our work.

At the heart of his service, Dave believes he is following the model Christ set to serve others. Every Monday morning before they start to work, a Volunteer who was a pastor, leads them in devotions. Through his weekly teachings, he reminds the dedicated group, “When you have done it unto these, the least of my brethren, you have done it unto Me.”

What began as an answer to a specific need in a church bulletin has become an ongoing answered prayer for Dave.  “If I can’t make my Monday volunteer day now, I miss it.  It is satisfying to serve our clients and their families.  Whether it’s unloading donations or filling client boxes that will soon be on a family’s table – the opportunity to bless someone who is struggling and make lives easier is the best kind of blessing for me.”