Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth County News- Sunday, April 12,1998
Forsyth Life
Encourage
and thank
your local
volunteers
Sheri I
Toomey V
Volunteers not only give their
time, in itself a gift since no one
knows how much they have, but
also their ears, eyes and feet.
You probably couldn’t calculate
how many hours a volunteer has
listened to and watched over some
on, or how many miles they’ve
walked to help others.
When everyone seems to be
watching the clock to beat work
deadlines, volunteers may watch
instead the eyes of a patient, child,
or homebound adult suddenly
light up from just a smile or small
talk.
It is the little things in daily life
that we forget about when rushing
about to complete our workload,
be it grocery shopping, cooking or
writing that memo before 5
o’clock.
Think about the last time you
actually stopped to listen to some
one else when you needed at least
another hour in the day.
Even though they may not have
much time to give, volunteers seem
to have all the time in the world.
They visit hospital patients, build
houses, help people learn how to
read, help disaster victims, give
blood and numerous other activi
ties.
This year National Volunteer
Week is celebrated April 13-19.
So if you know someone who has
made life a little easier for some
one else by volunteering, this
would be a great time to thank
them.
Sending a card would be great,
and some ot those on their feet all
day might appreciate having their
feet rubbed. Few people I’ve met
would turn down a batch of home
made cookies.
Or you could volunteer to go
along with a friend or acquaintance
as they spend a few hours helping
someone else. Maybe you’ll find
that you can squeeze a few extra
activities into your already full
week and become a volunteer
yourself.
People tend to volunteer for a
variety of reasons and there are
many options to suit your schedule.
Some people spend a few hours
every week helping a child better
their reading skills.
Others help organize annual
events to raise money for causes
like cancer research or community
groups.
If you can pick up a paint brush,
pound in a nail, or help clean up a
local park, there is certainly a vol
unteerorganization for you.
If you prefer combining your vol
unteer service with learning new
skills or expanding your knowl
edge, local museums or theaters
are a great place to start.
Travel is also an option. There are
numerous groups that travel to
other countries to provide medical
aid, help build needed structures,
distribute food, and teach among
other things.
But you really don’t need to buy
a plane ticket to travel as a volun
teer because the very work will
generally introduce you to situa
tions that you’ve never felt, seen or
heard of before.
It may not always be where the
action is but volunteering, more
importantly, leads to other doors.
When you get right down to it,
there are really very few reasons
not to volunteer your time.
So what are you waiting for?
Next week you have an opportu
nity not only to thank someone
else but to contribute your most
precious commodity and make
someone else’s day a little sunnier
and warmer.
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Local couple
chosen for
23rd annual
community
service award
By Sheri Toomey
Lifestyle Editor
Some people don’t just volunteer,
they throw all their energy into a
cause.
Forsyth County residents Diana
and Chris Buntin are a wonderful
example of this kind of commit
ment.
The couple’s work as volunteers
for the American Cancer Society in
the community and on the state and
national level has helped increase
cancer awareness.
The county Relay for Life which
benefits the American Cancer
Socety owes much of its support to
Diana and Chris. Both helped with
the initial start-up five years ago
and also volunteered to get the
Dawsonville Relay for Life off the
ground.
“Last year 50 cancer survivors
walked in the race,” said Chris.
Diana is one of those survivors
who has battled cancer twice with
the support of her husband.
She compared it to swimming in
the ocean; pummeled by continuous
Contributing time and talent
By Laura Lavezzo
Staff Writer
Alice Richardson has put in more volunteer hours
than any other member of Baptist North Hospital’s
Volunteer Auxiliaty.
Richardson, a resident of Forsyth County since
1979, joined the auxiliary in 1981 after a neighbor
introduced her to the program. For the past 17 years,
she has donated more than 1500 hours of her time,
helping out in the hospital’s gift shop and even con
tributing her own crocheted handiwork to the items
for sale.
A native of Anniston, Ala., Richardson moved to
Georgia following her marriage in 1946. Her husband,
J.C., spent his career working for a Buick dealership
in Atlanta. Now the couple resides in a scenic neigh
borhood in the northeast part of the county.
To raise money for the hospital, the auxiliary holds
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Baptist North Hospital volunteer
Margaret Steinhoff.
Eleven years and counting
By Beth L. Chester
Staff Writer
The thing 75-ycar-old Ralph Gordon likes most about being a Baptist
North Hospital volunteer is the chance it gives him to brighten some
one’s day.
No matter how comfortable hospital staff may try to keep their
patients, it’s still not home, he said, and the faces aren’t familiar.
Just stopping by their rooms with a pitcher of ice water gives him the
chance to strike up a conversation and for a little while, get the patients’
minds off their troubles.
After all, he knows what it’s like to be alone when you’re already feel
ing sad. In 1987, Gordon’s wife of 40 years passed away, and his world
See GORDON, Page 2B
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Photo/Submitted
Jack Shipkoski, American Cancer Society CEO, Ga. and N.C. division, with Channel 11
Community Service Award winners, Diana and Chris Buntin, on the morning show set.
waves with no hope of ever reach
ing the shore.
Since then, Diana and Chris have
devoted much of their time to giv
ing back.
We try to help the American
Cancer Society and people who
have cancer.
But that’s not all they do.
Last summer Diana and Chris
the popular Christmas bazaar and four to five bake
sales annually.
“We meet once a week to work at someone’s house,”
said Richardson. “It’s a lot of work, but we enjoy it.”
Some of the projects include silk flower arrange
ments, mail box covers and small hand-crafted items.
The profits from all sales are used to purchase much
needed supplies for the hospital.
“We buy a lot of things for the hospital,” she said,
including an incubator for newborns when the hospital
served maternity needs years ago. Richardson said she
and the other volunteers look forward to the possibili
ty of a maternity ward once the new facility is com
pleted. Richardson also contributes handmade crib
afghans to the hospital gift shop which go for S2O.
“We also give scholarships,” she said, “mostly to
See ALICE, Page 2B
Auxiliary president devotes time to hospital and volunteers
By Alton Bridges
Staff Writer
Margaret Steinhoff has been working three
years as a Baptist North Hospital volunteer
in Cumming and since July 19, 1996, she
has been president of the auxiliary.
In 1994, Ms. Steinhoff retired to Cumming
from Ohio when she was 70 years of age.
She chose Cumming because her youngest
son lived in Forsyth County. “Forsyth
County is a great place to live and I have
enjoyed getting to know a lot of wonderful
people since I moved here,” said Steinhoff.
After settling into the community,
Steinhoff started volunteering at the hospital
because her son worked there.
“I had worked hard all my life and when I
came to Cumming I couldn’t just sit around
helped a graduate of South Forsyth
High School raise money to fund
his bone marrow transplant. This
physically challenged young man
had his operation and now has a job.
Through the Cumming Civitan
Club, Chris and Diana work with
mentally and physically handi
capped children.
Environmental concerns are also a
Photo/Tom Brooks
Volunteer Ralph Gordon.
focus since carcinogenic fumes con
tinue to circulate in the air.
The Buntins also said they want to
encourage others to volunteer no
matter how much spare time they
have during the week.
We would like a lot of people to
volunteer and have fun doing it as
well, said Chris.
“When you volunteer, you can be
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Photo/Laura L avezzo
Above, hospital volunteer Alice Richardson with her granddaugh
ters, Helana and Annalice Richardson.
and do nothing,” said Steinhoff. “So I started
working as a volunteer at the hospital and it
has been very rewarding. I enjoy the work
because it gives me an opportunity to give
someone a smile or a kind word.”
Steinhoff began working on a 160-acre
farm her family owned because her daddy
could not get anyone to help. “During World
War 11, all the young men were in the service
and the men and women at home were
working day and night in the factories that
were building the equipment and materials
that were needed to support the war,”
Steinhoff remembered. “I was a young
teenager, so I had to do my part. The work
on the farm was hard and the hours long, but
it gave us an opportunity to work together as
a family.”
After the war, she married and for 15 years
Couple volunteers together
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
Lola Kearney and her priest
joked that Georgia Baptist North
Hospital should change its name to
reflect the large number of
Catholics that work there.
She and her husband, Bernie,
started volunteering at the hospital
after reading an announcement in a
bulletin at Good Shepherd
Catholic Church.
Bernie started work in February
and Lola in March. Both help
Local art events at
the Sawnee Center
RMZ2B Q
yourself,” he said.
The Buntins were chosen as two
of this years 11 Alive Community
Service Awards winners in Atlanta
for their tireless efforts in the fight
against cancer.
The award ceremony will be
broadcast live by Channel 11,
Wednesday, April 15 at 9 p.m. from
the Cobb Galleria Centre.
Channel 11 news anchors Brenda
Wood and Wes Sarginson will host
the one hour broadcast.
Other Atlanta volunteers selected
for Community Service Awards by
the Board of Governors include:
Morris Allen, Brenda Byess, Ed
Crumbly, Jennie Glasgow, Judy
Hammett, Margie Huwig, Ceola
Jones, Bernadette Leite, Frank
Spence and Ivan Allen Jr. The spe
cial Board of Governor’s Award
will go to William “Bill” Dahlberg.
In addition to this award, the
Buntins were also awarded the
Jefferson Award for public service
from the American Institute for
Public Service in Washington, D.C
which includes SI,OOO toward the
charity of their choice.
The Buntins are donating the
money to the Hope Lodge in
Atlanta which they initially helped
raise funds to open.
Diana gave a speech at the
groundbreaking ceremony. •
The lodge provides a support sys
tem for cancer patients at Emory
University Hospital and their fami
lies, said Diana. They can stay there
with others going through the same
ordeal, instead of by themselves in a
hotel.
“You don’t go out and do volun
teer work to try and win some
thing,” said Chris. “That’s not the
idea behind it.”
managed 304 apartment units.. “I tell folks
that I would get 304 complaints per day,”
said Steinhoff.
Managing the apartments gave her an
opportunity to meet all kinds of people and
learn how to get along with th em.
After leaving the real es.tate business,
Steinhoff worked as secretary and organist at
Heath Methodist Church in Heath, Ohio. “I
still enjoy music, but I have not had an
opportunity to play as muc h as I would like
recently.”
For 40 years, Steinhoff was married to a
World War II veteran who was captured dur
ing the Battle of the Buljge. During the six
months he spent in the POW camp, his
weight dropped from 190 to 125 pounds.
•
See STEINHOFF Page 2B
keep track of j people as they enter
the emergency room and direct
them where to go.
“It’s a nice group of people .
you’re workit ig with, and the peo
ple at the hos.pital seem to appreci
ate having the volunteers around,”
she said.
Lola volunteers on Tuesday
afternoons after working at Good
Shepherd i n the morning. When
the emerge ncy room slows down,
she helps file lab results into
See KEARNEY, Page 2B
