Volunteers Article

 God has brought some amazing people along our path to help with the work of Believe in West Virginia, and we have been especially blessed at Storehouse West Virginia TM.  In 2011 we received help from 97 different individuals, representing 19 different organizations, who donated over 1,055 hours of their time.  There is not space to profile each of our volunteers, but we want to tell you about several who have had a big impact on our efforts.

In August of 2010, we came into contact with a new transplant to West Virginia.  Ed Schwartz heard the story about the work of Storehouse West Virginia TM and said “I would be willing to give you a day a week to help”.  Thus began a relationship that has made a dramatic impact upon the Storehouse.  After working with us from August until November, Ed said that he could handle running things, if our Storehouse Manager (John) ever needed a day off.  God’s timing was once again incredible.  Two days later (Saturday), John suffered a dissection of his aorta, which meant immediate hospitalization and surgery.  Ed was immediately asked to step up, because a truck was scheduled to arrive on the following Tuesday.  With the help of volunteers, Ed oversaw the unloading of the truck.  Ed continued to distribute product during the next four months, while John recovered.  After John returned, Ed returned to working one day a week.  Ed has made a big impact on the groups he has gotten to know.  Many recipients will check on how Ed is doing, if they come in on a day when he is not working.  We are very grateful for God’s introduction and Ed’s willingness to help.

Running an operation like the Storehouse requires lots of paperwork, which takes a great deal of time and effort to keep current.  Almost from the beginning, a volunteer named Judy Simon stepped up and took care of much of the data entry work that is required.  Judy moved to Lewisburg, WV in 2010, but she continued to handle the data entry throughout the year.  We wondered where we might find someone else who could handle this task.  Once again God was faithful and introduced us to Terry Stone.  Terry, who has many skills and interests, participates with the United Way RSVP program, which helps to connect seniors looking for volunteer opportunities with organizations who need assistance.  After hearing of our need for someone to do data entry, Terry agreed to help.  Beginning in January 2011 he has taken about two hours per week to enter all our recipient information into our software.  He recently past his first year anniversary and we are very grateful for his attention to detail and assistance.

Whether you can commit a day a week, a couple of hours a week, or just an hour or two occasionally, we would love to have you contact us to explore the options.  Here are some of the other ways that volunteers have helped us meet the needs of the less fortunate of West Virginia.  For the last several summers we have had a youth group come in and spend some time working on larger projects.  Every time a truck full of product arrives we have to call on volunteers to help us unload the items.  Occasionally, we have product that must be sorted so that it can be distributed, which does not require much heavy lifting.  Maybe none of these ideas seem to fit your areas of interest; but you would still like to help in some way.  If so, feel free to contact us so we can discuss how you might help out.  Thanks to all our past volunteers.  We hope to see you again in 2012!