Meet Two Volunteer
Shoppers
When Ann
Domagala saw an advertisement in the Brainerd Daily Dispatch about
shopping for seniors who couldn't do it themselves, she thought she'd give
it a try. After the one-hour training session, she realized that this
would be a way that she could "give back" without creating scheduling
conflicts with her work as a veterinarian.
"I enjoy
volunteering as a vet at the Crow Wing County Fair, but that's doing what
I normally do, and it's just once a year." Ann said. "I was looking for
something that would help older people."
"I am a
large animal veterinarian, which means that I take my practice to the
animals," Ann explained. "So it's easy for me to pick up my client, Elvera,
and go shopping en route from my home to farms. It's flexible."
Ann likes
being with older people because their perspectives are different. "They
have different experiences than I have had, so there is a lot to learn."
She said
that the experience is making her more aware of what goes on as people get
older, and how lonely and isolated people can get when they no longer are
able to drive or to visit with their longtime friends.
"I
appreciate the stories and conversations. Elvera has time to spend and
shares so much of her life with us. There's a real honesty in our
relationship."
What began
with shopping has turned into visits and a friendship.
"I bought
Elvera a computer recently," Ann said. Elvera wanted to use email. But she
now likes to play the computer games as well as use e-mail. "This fall,
we'll see if she wants a boat ride."
For Beverly
Owen, there was the same desire to "give back," but the circumstances were
different. Beverly had seen the value of volunteering in several
situations. Her mother aided her aunt as she coped with breast cancer.
When breast cancer struck Beverly's mother, Beverly realized how important
the caregiver respite volunteers were. And when her mother approached
death, she found the hospice volunteers to be "a godsend." Later, her
father developed cancer, and the family would travel the same path again.
"I saw the
volunteers and what good they did, so I want to make sure that I model
that behavior in front of my own son (age 6)," Beverly explained.
When LSS
approached Cub Foods in Brainerd to help promote the service, LSS met
Beverly. She saw an immediate connection. Her original plan was to share
the service work along with a young person she was mentoring at their
church, Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Baxter. But the timing didn't work
out, so Beverly did it alone.
Since she
works at Cub Foods in Brainerd, it's easy for her to pick up groceries and
take them to her client, Joyce. "Joyce is so appreciative for this
service; it almost makes me feel guilty because it takes so little of my
time and it feels so good to help her out."
