Reasons for Giving Time
Eleanor Crescenzi
Volunteer Coordinator
During my first year as volunteer coordinator at Celia’s House, my greatest surprise has been the variety of reasons that call people to serve. For many, it is part of their grieving process, for others, it is acting on a curiosity or confronting a fear. Every reason is perfect for what it is, and every volunteer is crucial for what they give.
To volunteer at Celia’s House is to be enveloped by a quiet trust that winds its way through the halls and around the grounds. It swirls past the volunteer picking flowers for an honoring ceremony, and is infused into the soil by the garden volunteers who show up on the hottest summer days. It parallels the welcome of the front door greeters, and is absorbed up by those who wash dishes in the Celia's House kitchen as part of their giving.
This quiet trust sweetly says, ‘kindness comes first’. The Heartsong Singers express it in their harmonies, and the strumming of a ukulele sends it bouncing joyfully from room to room. Quiet but mighty, this trust binds our individual reasons for showing up into a gift for our residents and their loved ones.
