Volunteers step up in Northwest Arkansas

Photo by Claire Rhodes

Tracy Craft directs her children as they shrug out of their coats and get settled in for the Thanksgiving meal. They head in different directions: Katelyn, 8, moves toward trays of pecan and apple pie while Bethany, 12, heads toward a group of kids crowded around one of the tables. The food looks and smells delicious, but Tracy and the kids, and dad, Jason, are not here to eat; they’re here to serve. It is two days before Thanksgiving and the Craft family is at the Samaritan Community Center to don blue aprons and provide hot plates of turkey, dressing, and all the fixings to the less fortunate clients of the center.

There are close to 40 volunteers serving Thanksgiving in the dining hall at the Samaritan Center, a faith-based, non-profit organization that operates a soup kitchen, a food pantry and provides counseling services for the needy. It is a more than normal amount of volunteers, many of them new, said permanent volunteer Steve Veliquette. Volunteers at the Thanksgiving lunch range from a six-year-old carrying pie from table to table to 81-year-old Dorothy Lindeman, who doles out punch, iced tea and hugs to everyone in the center.

Volunteerism has been growing in the Norwest Arkansas area, and not only during the holiday season. Jen Boyle, director of operations for the Samaritan Community Center, said more people have entered into volunteering than ever. Many of the new volunteers are individuals and families, and some are even people who are out of work themselves, adding to the group volunteers that usually help out.

The increasing number of volunteers coincides with the growing need, as the still-faltering economy continues to cause job losses and push people out of their homes. The Samaritan Center has even lost volunteers who have had to go back to work to support their families, but it has seen them replaced with a larger focus on family volunteerism.

The Craft family has been volunteering for several years, but recently became more active because of a service project within their church. The two girls enjoyed the project so much that they wanted to continue to serve, Tracy says, and the Crafts believe the girls need to be involved in volunteering. This is the family’s first time to serve food to the needy.

“My husband and I believe it’s important for them to know how fortunate they are, and to be able to give back to people who are less fortunate, because you just never know when that might be you,” Tracy says.

The Crafts are only one of several families volunteering together. Leola Johnson, a volunteer at the Samaritan Center for the first time, helped serve the Thanksgiving meal with her daughter and grandchildren. Claire Rhodes, originally from London, England, has been living in Northwest Arkansas for about a year. She began volunteering at the Samaritan Center four months ago and brought her family to help out at the Thanksgiving lunch.

“This is an amazing community; everybody wants to give, everybody wants to be a part of it,” Rhodes says. She has noticed a lot of kids, families and church groups volunteering.

Other non-profit and charity groups are having the same experience. Autumn Hendrix, the special projects coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club of Fayetteville, said they usually solicit groups to volunteer, but this year they have seen more individuals and families, and more people volunteering in general.

Laney Dorman, 12, served drinks at the Club during its Thanksgiving dinner Nov. 19. Laney was volunteering for the first time with her dad and her church group. Heidi Fredrickson was also there with her sons Skyler, 8, and Kobe, 7. Heidi said it was Skyler’s idea to volunteer. He likes to help out with the less fortunate as much as he can, so Heidi went online to help Skyler decide which program he would like to volunteer with, she said.

“There have been easily twice as many hits this year than last year on the Web site,” Hendrix says, referring to how many people are checking out volunteer opportunities online through the Boys & Girls Club. Though she can’t be sure if the people searching will follow through, she is glad they are at least looking for volunteer opportunities.

Unfortunately, an increase in volunteers does not mean a surplus in help.

Hendrix said donations for the year for the Boys & Girls club have been down in every category. Heather Townzen, kitchen coordinator for Rogers and Springdale Samaritan Centers, said the soup kitchen is in a different situation from the food pantry, which has struggled to meet the needs of those in want.

“The economy is down, and the cost to run the food pantry is a lot more,” Townzen said.

Organizers for both the Samaritan Center and the Boys & Girls Club said they are thankful for the abundance of food they had this year for the Thanksgiving dinners, which were donated from various sources including local restaurants, food drives and individuals.

The biggest problem for the two groups is the increase in need. There was a 53 percent increase in clients at the Samaritan Center in just two years, with an expectation to serve more than 100,000 people in Northwest Arkansas this year, according to the Web site.

Ron and Charlotte Hawkins sit at the end of a long table, in two blue plastic chairs facing each other, and wait to be served the lunch that they share here about once a month, this time a traditional Thanksgiving meal. Ron has on a tired denim Harley Davidson jacket and scuffed cowboy boots, and Charlotte’s long denim skirt and flowered blouse may be homemade, but they smile warmly when a few of the volunteers welcome them. Charlotte had a massive stroke a few years ago and is on Social Security, while Ron works full-time at Walmart; they struggle to live off the one income. They were recently in a worse than usual financial situation and had to turn further to the Samaritan Center for help, they say. Besides feeding them, the center gave them a list of places to go for financial help and offered emotional counseling, as well.

Bobby Davis, unkempt but sociable, sits down the table from the Hawkinses. Davis eats the three meals a week offered by the center and gets groceries there once a month. His son lives with him, but has to work all day and Davis doesn’t know how to cook.

“My supper don’t come around ‘til about 11 o’clock at night and [the center] helps me through the day,” Davis said.

The Hawkinses and Davis have seen a lot more people using the amenities at the Samaritan Center, they said.

Both the Samaritan Center and the Boys & Girls Club expected to have larger groups at their Thanksgiving dinners this year, and everyone seems to agree that the needy population is continuing to grow.

“I’ve seen more of an increase in people who are needy…a lot, lot, lot of people coming in,” said Rhodes, the volunteer from the Samaritan Center.

But Rhodes believes that the number of volunteers is keeping up with the increase of people in need, and others agree…for now.

“We have had an increase in the need, so God’s provided enough help for those people,” Townzen said.

It may be true that as the need continues to grow, so will the number of people willing to fill it.

“I know, personally, I’ve always been thankful for what I have, but when you start looking at people losing their jobs…you’re a little more thankful for it,” Hendrix said. “You want to go out and you want to help.”