It just takes a little time

Opportunities for volunteering abound in Charles County

Friday, Nov. 14, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by SARA K. TAYLOR Lona Boggs of La Plata was given the GERI award in 2006 for her participation in Project Linus. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo Burkey Boggs and his wife, Margaret, were recently inducted into the Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame. The received the GERI award for their volunteer work.

As the holiday season gears up, the economy continues a downward spiral.

There's the chance that some can become discouraged, a bit down. Then there are others.

Those others who know that they have something to give — even if it just time or talent.

"The holiday season is the biggest season," both for looking for volunteers and those looking to volunteer, said Julie Andrews-Walker, program assistant at Volunteer Southern Maryland on the La Plata campus of the College of Southern Maryland.

The organization, found online at www.csmd.edu/vsmd, offers more than 200 local agencies in need of volunteers. The search is made easier for those looking for opportunities via searching a keyword — be it "animals" or "elderly."

With the weather slowly turning chilly, organizations are kicking into high gear, with coat drives, food collections and donations to Thanksgiving and Christmas-time programs.

"Of course volunteers are needed year-round," said Andrews-Walker, no stranger to giving her time. As the management director for the Waldorf Jaycees, she knows firsthand about volunteering.

"I was a Jaycees brat," she said. "I've been doing it my entire life."

While Volunteer Southern Maryland has been in the area for about a decade, the office at CSM is a

rarity.

Few offices are located on community college campuses, but it offers students who need to complete service learning hours a great and easy way to find what's out there for them. It also helps younger students who, as is mandated by the state, have to complete 75 hours of community service before they can graduate.

Andrews-Walker said that even those who drag their feet completing their hours can usually find an opportunity that fits them.

"Once someone finds an activity they like, they tend to go back to it," she said. "Volunteering is one of the best experiences you can have. You don't have to get a monetary reward for everything you do, a smile on someone's face or knowing you helped someone is enough."

A large number of volunteers tend to be those who are retired and find themselves with time on their hands.

"We're seeing a lot more of that now that people are staying more active after they retire," Andrews-Walker said.

Quilting for a cause

Three of those active retirees are in one La Plata family.

Burkey Boggs and his wife, Margaret always seem to be on the go.

They have a good role model in Burkey's soon-to-be 95-year-old mother, Lona Boggs.

Nominated for induction in the 22nd annual Maryland Senior Citizens Hall of Fame, Burkey and Margaret recently received the GERI award, given to senior citizens who display a commitment to community service.

Lona was named a GERI award winner in 2006.

"She said, ‘I guess I don't have anything on you anymore,'" said Burkey about telling his mom he and Margaret were getting the same award.

Other Charles County locals nominated and inducted into the hall of fame were Lois Alexander, formerly of Charles County, now living in Westminster, who volunteered at James Craik Elementary School and the Waldorf Jaycees; Joanna Bond of White Plains, who helped out with Project Linus and the CCD program at St. Peter's School; Margie Posey of Indian Head, a retired teacher who currently serves as a councilwoman in Indian Head; Carolyn Rogers of La Plata, a former teacher who volunteered with Meals on Wheels; and Joyce Simpson of Waldorf, who donated time to Civista Medical Center, according to materials from the hall of fame induction ceremony.

Lona, who just recently slowed down her activity in dishing out food during La Plata United Methodist Church's dinners, retired at 68 from T.C. Martin Elementary School as the cafeteria manager. She has been involved in Project Linus for years.

"Too long to remember," she said.

Project Linus, a national non-profit with chapters throughout the country, provides blankets to children who are seriously ill or in need of new, handmade blankets and Afghans, according to its Web site.

Lona, the mother of four, grandmother of 16 and great-grandmother of 32, has been sewing most of her life.

After marrying the late Andrew Jackson Boggs, Lona quilted out of necessity. She needed to put blankets on the beds. Over the years, with the demands of work and family, the quilting fell to the wayside.

Upon her retirement, she took it up again. According to Margaret, Lona always has a project going, including the one she is currently working on for her daughter-in-law and another one at the Richard Clark Senior Center where Lona goes to every Wednesday.

When she's not volunteering, Lona gets in a weekly game of canasta with her friends.

Married to helping

It seems to Margaret Boggs that she has always given her time. Maybe she was born to it. Her late mother, Ethel Drinks, was the oldest of 18 children who volunteered at the snack bar of Civista Medical Center and the Catholic Daughters of America.

The mother of five, she was a homemaker who could often be found at her alma mater, Archbishop Neale School where she helped out while her kids were students.

"Am I ever going to get out of this school," Margaret remembered thinking about first attending, then volunteering at the La Plata school.

Burkey, who is the president of the Southern Maryland Carousel Group (Margaret is the group's secretary and treasurer), began woodcarving after Margaret gave him a carving kit for Christmas one year.

Poring over instructional books and taking advice from other carvers, Burkey quickly became the teacher, donating carvings to local charities for auction.

After retiring from the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, he started devoting time to organizations.

"I knew I needed something to occupy my time other than hunting and fishing," he said. "I couldn't just sit around and watch TV. I'm busier now than I was when I was working."

He is a member of the Community Foundation of Charles County, the Board of License Commissioners (more commonly known as the liquor board) and La Plata's board of appeals.

In addition to being a member of Sacred Heart's sodality, Margaret has been a volunteer with Hospice of Charles County, Citizens for the Charles County Public Library and with the La Plata Beautification Commission.

Margaret doesn't like to talk about the volunteer work she and her family give their time to.

They don't do it for awards or to be singled out. They do it because they can.

"It was how we were brought up," she said, adding that everyone has something to give.

"I find it annoying for people to say they're bored," Margaret said. "There is so much out there to get involved in, so much that you can do."

"You're not just helping one person," Burkey added. "You're helping the whole community."

staylor@somdnews.com