Contributing to the Community

Rosanne Sylvia-Heeter and her husband Gary have volunteered at the Guilford Senior Center in Greensboro, NC since March 2009. Once a month, 60 to 80 seniors gather to enjoy an entertaining night of bingo that the couple organizes. Rosanne and Gary give each bingo night a theme, and provide snacks, prizes, and plenty of good cheer. (That’s not a figure of speech; there’s actual cheering!) Rosanne says they’ve all become great friends.

As the school year shifts into the second semester, many school children run out of basic school supplies. Karen Sargent and fellow members of the Order of the Eastern Star's Bradenton Chapter, donate cases of new supplies to their adopted elementary school, Orange Ridge Bullock. At the beginning of the school year, the OES chapter also donates school uniforms to help families that cannot afford them.

Karen Harrison serves on the Executive Committee of the Anglers of the Au Sable, whose mission is to preserve, protect and enhance the Au Sable River System in Michigan. This organization is recognized as one of the premier conservation organizations in Michigan. Karen is active in all of the organization’s activities including the annual river clean up and maintenance of the organization's website. She is also Chairperson of the Communication and Education Committee. Karen is also on the Executive Committee of the Au Sable River Watershed Council and has been instrumental in coordination of restoration and preservation activities tHR-Narrowoughout the watershed. She is the Fly Tyer Chair for the Great Lakes Council of the Federation of Fly Fishers annual Fly Tying Expo held every December in Holt, MI, which showcases the efforts of over 70 fly tyers.

David Preston and his wife Carol volunteer every week at the Orange Congregations in Mission (OCIM) food pantry in Hillsborough, NC. There, they fill and hand out orders, stock shelves, and maintain donation and distribution records. The only weeks that David and Carol don’t work at OCIM is when they’re enjoying time in Colorado…where they volunteer at the Durango Food Bank.

John Janeri spent more than a decade volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, helping to build homes for deserving families in the US, Nicaragua, and Honduras. He also served as House Leader organizing crews and teaching them construction techniques. John hopes to return to Habitat for Humanity in the near future.