Hooked on Volunteering
Everytime I leave the House, I leave happy -- Vinnie Nofi
One day several years ago my wife, Susan, came back from the Ronald McDonald House with a binder containing instructions for volunteers and told me to read it. So I did. It basically meant nothing to me since I didn’t even know where the Ronald McDonald House was. Two weeks later she dragged me along on a Thursday evening so I could see what it was like. That was the end of the beginning. From then on I was hooked.
It didn’t take long after talking to Dorothy Mahoney, who was running the House at that time, to realize that although they had a couple of personal computers and did some work on them, there was far too little information being collected in a usable form and too much manual work being done in the offices. Wow! I actually had some skills that I could use to help.
After picking Dot’s brains for a couple of hours I developed a process to gather statistics on a daily basis and produce a monthly report on House Occupancy. Other than some minor additions to gather more data and produce additional reports for the Board of Directors, that process is still in use today. Little did I know that people would keep coming back to me to get different information from such a simple process. It is always inwardly rewarding to be able to respond quickly and provide what is needed.
But that is a minor attribute to volunteering. Being at the House and getting to know the other volunteers and those who need the services the House provides has been a wonderful experience. Although dealing with the tragedies is hard, being with all those families that have such hopeful and upbeat outlooks in the face of their troubles simply cannot be described. Over the years I’ve met many fantastic people and regretfully have lost some of them, but the happy endings, such as when the babies go home or people are cured from their epilepsy, far outweigh the negatives.
So even people with minimal time and talents like me can contribute, help others and reap their own personal rewards. Whether it is changing light bulbs, loading the soda machine, moving furniture, emptying the dishwashers, checking families in or out or simply answering the telephone, every time I leave the House, I leave happy.
