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April is one of those months that reminds us why community matters. The days are getting longer, the ground is thawing, and Duluth is coming back to life — and so are the people who make this place worth caring about. That’s you!
This month we’re celebrating our volunteers, marking Earth Day with action, and looking ahead to a season full of growth — in our gardens and in our neighborhoods.
To Chum Volunteers, from the Heart.
I’ve been trying to find the right words for this, and honestly, I’m not sure they exist. What you give — your time, your energy, your presence — isn’t something that can be captured in a newsletter. But I want to try.
Last year, Chum volunteers contributed 3,000 hours of direct-service work — at the Food Shelf, Safe Bay, the Warming Center, and more — and another 3,000 hours of event service.
Six thousand hours total. Let that sink in for a moment.
According to Independent Sector, the nationally recognized value of a volunteer hour is $34.79. That means your collective contribution last year represents more than $209,000 in labor — the equivalent of about 6% of Chum’s entire workforce capacity. You are not a footnote in this organization. You are a pillar of it.
But no dollar figure comes close to capturing what you actually give. Every single one of you has chosen, again and again, to show up. On cold mornings and long afternoons. When the work was hard and unglamorous, for people you’d never met, asking nothing in return. That is not a small thing. That is everything.
Chum exists because of you. Our neighbors find warmth, food, and dignity because of you. This community is stronger, kinder, and more hopeful because of the choice you make every time you walk through our doors or roll up your sleeves.
During Volunteer Appreciation Month and always — thank you.
From the bottom of my heart.
Bud Trnka
Volunteer and Event Coordinator - Chum
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P.S. Have volunteer hours to submit? Please send them to volunteer@chumduluth.org.
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