Weekly Village News for April 18, 2025

Next week is National Volunteer Appreciation Week. How do I count the ways that volunteers are critical to our neighborhood-based non-profit? It's a rhetorical question, of course, because although I, Dan, and Claire are all staff, volunteers are the heart and soul of this organization. To illustrate, I'll give you a few examples:

• Janet Cyphers provided 233 services in 2024, including an incredible 110 rides!

  
  

• John Wiecking regularly visits a member in rehab in nearby Maryland. He has gone at a moment's notice when the individual was extremely lonely and just needed a calming voice.

  
  

• Alison Garrett does a service for someone nearly every weekday.  She said to me once, "I have two personal appointments in the next month, but the rest of the time is devoted to the Village and what the members need."

  
  

• Luke Jensen comes to the Village office most Tuesdays and Thursdays to assist with general office work which saves staff many hours a month.

  
  

• Mark Ohnmacht was out of town and read the requests of our members and managed to figure out how to pick up a member from having a heart procedure within an hour of landing at DCA.

  
  

• A team of dedicated shopping volunteers (Emily Benner, Michelle Serafyn, John Wiecking, Judy Riggs, Mark Harvey, Natalie Park, and Alison Garrett) takes turns each week to shop for and delivery groceries for a member who is unable to go to the store.

  
  

• Robbie Cronin regularly drives three people to and from a monthly event so that the members can participate. While this takes time, the benefit is that 3 members get to enjoy an afternoon with friends.

  
  

• Marnie Walfoort took a member for what was supposed to be a brief appointment, which turned out to be a three-hour appointment due to some unexpected additional tests, but Marnie stayed and ensured that the member had company throughout the tests before getting her home safely.

These are just a few of the many terrific acts of kindness and service that I'm privileged to witness each day.  Recently a member sent in the following which I think sums it up nicely: "Steve assisted me with professionalism, patience and utmost competence. PLEASE convey to him my heartfelt appreciation."

While our motto is "Neighbors Helping Neighbors," one of our core values is to "Be There." Being there for others is exactly what our volunteers do with every service.

Please join me in thanking and honoring our volunteers for Volunteer Awareness Week, but also with each act of kindness they provide.

Read the full newsletter here.

— Frank Finamore, Executive Director