CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/11662
safe while they were out. This time was different. She was despondent and quiet when Stitt arrived that day. She moved awkwardly with her walker, obviously needing her wheelchair. He asked why she wasn’t using it. The woman frowned and explained that the wheelchair had quit working. Stitt looked at the chair and gently asked if it needed to be charged. She looked at him in surprise and confessed she hadn’t thought of that. Stitt helped charge her chair and was rewarded with a grateful smile. Such a small gesture meant so much to her, he said. Each RSVP volunteer can tell stories of simple acts of kindness which made someone’s life better, at least for a moment. Nearly every day, volunteers are serving meals to shut-ins or the homeless, walking dogs at the animal shelter, tutoring children or figuring taxes for someone who cannot do it alone. They work in medical centers, museums and senior centers across the city. There is an RSVP volunteer in almost every charitable group in Fayetteville. Last year alone, 515 RSVP volunteers worked more than 104,000 hours, saving the community an estimated $2 million. Mary L. Mack is one of those volunteers. She says serving others gives her a sense of satisfaction and purpose. For now, she is on the receiving end of such help, but all of us, if we live long enough, end up in the receiving line. RSVP Executive Director Judy Dawkins says that she is both honored and challenged by her volunteers. “You cannot see what they give and how they serve and it not make a footprint on your heart,” she says. Ashley Smith of the United Way says two things make RSVP different from other volunteer organizations: the quality of the volunteers and Judy Dawkins. “These volunteers show up on time and do a good job with a great attitude,” says Smith, “and Judy Dawkins lights up a room with her energy. She motivates others to make a real difference.” Dawkins is herself a senior adult. She believes there is no better time to teach younger generations that life is more than living for number one.CV Tousands o O Homes ne Address www.TownsendRealEstate.com 910.323.1110 Clayton Britt & Sons, Inc. Spa & Pool World Bringing Families & Communities Together One Pool at a Time for Over 35 Years! 3703 Bragg Blvd. 910-868-8319 CityViewNC.com | 65