MEET CAROL!
Name: Carol J Udall
Town of residence: Bolton
Which UWTC program(s) have you volunteered for?
- WHEAT Community Cupboard
- WHEAT Community Café
- WHEAT Hidden Treasures
How Long Have You Been Volunteering for WHEAT? I started volunteering in April 2017, so 3+ years.
Do you volunteer regularly or occasionally? I volunteer regularly, anywhere from 20-40-ish hours a month.
Why did you decide to volunteer? After retiring from working full time for ~45 years, I still needed something to keep me busy. I enjoy helping others and the social interaction with other adults.
How did you decide to volunteer with us? My most recent employment was with Intel. Intel has a matching volunteer hours program, so WHEAT also receives a monetary match for every hour that I volunteer. Also, WHEAT is only five minutes away from my home, so it is very convenient.
What do you do when you volunteer? My background is working with computers, so I inquired about possible office related work. At that time Jodi was looking to get all the past volunteer information into an Excel spreadsheet. After completing that task, I went on to create a spreadsheet for all the current volunteer information. I continue to update this data monthly and provide Jodi and Jenny with statistics on the number of volunteers and hours by program area for their reporting. I have helped with just about every data entry/reporting task needed in the office: tracking SNAP clients, Café clients, food pantry clients, filing, anything that Jenny needs help with to keep the office running smoothly. Early on, I also frequently helped prepare and serve food in the Café and stocked the food pantry when they were shorthanded.
How does volunteering make you feel? I enjoy helping where needed and spending time with the people at WHEAT. I really like a challenge when Jodi says, "can we get ??? information from ??? data" and I can go off and figure out how to get her the information she needs.
Why do you think it's important for people to volunteer? It is always good to help someone other than yourself. When my daughter was young, I did a lot of volunteering with the Girl Scouts and that was very enjoyable to watch young girls develop into young women. Unfortunately, my long working hours the last 10 years of employment prevented me from having the time to volunteer. I am happy to be giving back again.
If you are retired, what did you do before? My 45-ish year career was involved with computer software and hardware qualification/validation; I worked to find the bugs/issues before the software or hardware was sold to the customer. I lived through the Digital Equipment/Compaq/HP transitions and finally moved to Intel.
Tell us a story of a time when you knew your volunteering made a difference: This last winter, the WHEAT office was having difficulties with their food pantry database entry system. This database keeps track of daily Café and food pantry client visits so monthly reporting can be done. I worked with the database support team to help facilitate resolving the issues and then helped to get about four months of backlogged data into the database.
What's your best advice for someone interested in volunteering? Just go do it. You meet some nice people, while helping others. WHEAT is a great place to volunteer as it has an area for almost any talent you have to share, for however long you are available.
MEET CHERYL!
Name: Cheryl A. Forrest
Town of residence: Clinton
Which UWTC program(s) have you volunteered for?
- WHEAT Community Cupboard
- WHEAT Community Café
How Long Have You Been Volunteering at WHEAT? I have been volunteering here since March 2018.
Do you volunteer regularly or occasionally? I did volunteer regularly until COVID-19.
Why did you decide to volunteer? As an empty nester, I have a lot of free time and it was important to me that I put it to good use. It gave me an opportunity to give back to the community and feel involved.
How did you decide to volunteer with us? I learned of the pantry through someone in my Condo Community. I heard great things about the pantry, the staff and the clients. It was important to me to know it was a well-managed, well respected location.
What do you do when you volunteer? I assisted clients in the food pantry and stocked shelves when needed.
How does volunteering make you feel? I absolutely LOVE volunteering and have missed it immensely during COVID-19. I am looking forward to the day I can return, and we can get back to some normalcy.
Why do you think it's important for people to volunteer? Every volunteer can make a difference, no matter how small the task or how short the time. It's fulfilling to know you are helping others. You can also make new friends, expand your network, and become socially active in a community.
If you work, can you tell us where and what you do? I work for a networking company called: Cisco Systems, Inc. and I work in and support Partner Sales. I have been at Cisco for 10 years. Prior to Cisco I worked for Digital Equipment Corporation for almost 20 years.
Tell us a story of a time when you knew your volunteering made a difference: The staff and clients have always made me feel welcome and that my presence is always appreciated. They've always made me feel that every minute/hour made a difference and that's why I would return week after week.
What's your best advice for someone interested in volunteering? Stop procrastinating and jump in! There are so many options available, pick what best suites you and works best with your schedule.
Do you have any other comments you would like to add? I'm camera shy :+)