When I started working in the volunteer department at Tel Hai, I knew there were a lot of volunteers. I knew there were a lot of volunteer opportunities. And I was pretty sure the volunteers would be pretty nice.
But what I didn’t know was what I was getting myself into and the caliber of volunteers who were at Tel Hai! What I didn’t know was that the volunteer hours would increase from just more than 36,000 hours in 2013 to more than 43,000 in 2017. I didn’t know that the volunteer fleet would grow each year so that now there are more than 410 volunteers helping at Tel Hai! And what I really didn’t know was the kind of volunteer I would encounter and the depth of their love and joy of volunteering at Tel Hai.
You see, in order to be a Tel Hai volunteer, one cannot just walk off the street and ‘help’ with any ordinary task. Nope… not going to cut it here! To call oneself a Tel Hai volunteer someone must have passion about what is being done; whether that’s driving the shuttle, monitoring the pool, sorting and delivering mail…whatever it may be (and believe me – the list is long!) a Tel Hai volunteer enjoys the opportunity to help and show up with the mindset that volunteering is more natural than not! These are the volunteers I encountered when I started at Tel Hai.
I was blown away by their dedication, love, compassion, skills, work ethic and willingness to help and share their gifts that I decided that very day that Tel Hai volunteers are AWESOME! You could look up other words in the dictionary, or find any amount of synonyms to describe the great people I get the pleasure of working with every day, but to me, awesome sums it up perfectly.
So in honor of Volunteer Appreciation Week being held April 24 through April 28th, from the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank all of the Tel Hai volunteers. Each and every volunteer makes this organization run smoothly and shows up 365 days a year with a smile on their face and a passion in their heart for helping others.
You’re simply AWESOME!
Amy Whary
Director of Volunteer Services
Tel Hai Retirement Community
Amy, you are so right! Tel Hai is blessed with so many wonderful volunteers. There are 45 volunteers that help in Lakeview Personal Care. They bring joy to the people that live here and the people that work here. They are smiling, cheerful and upbeat.
Thank you so much to all the volunteers for their warmth and love!
Thank you Amy for your direction of the Tel Hai Volunteers and THANK YOU to ALL the Tel Hai volunteers who dedicate their time to serving our community! You ALL are AWESOME!