25 April 2005

An 8-year-old Marian Byrnes shadowed her mother as she took food to an ailing neighbor.

Day after day, dish after dish, walking from one Hoosier farmhouse to another until the neighbor lady got better.

In time, Byrnes learned a lesson about giving for the sake of giving.

More importantly, she learned about volunteering for a greater good.

"There's no magic formula," said Byrnes, now 79, who lives on Chicago's southeast side. "Like my mother, volunteers are people who very much want to make something happen."

Today marks the last day of National Volunteer Week, honoring an estimated 64 million volunteers in this country, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Thousands of those volunteers live in this region, offering their time, talents and tireless devotion without expecting a dime in return. Most of them quietly exemplify the theme of this year's national notoriety: "Inspire by example."

Millie Seberger-Strasser has been doing this for nearly a decade at St. Anthony Home in Crown Point. There, the 81-year-old widow and Eucharistic minister shows up almost daily to talk with patients, lend an ear or give communion inside the center's chapel and hospice.

Strasser, who lives across the street from the home, has been a caregiver most of her life, first taking care of her father and then her second husband, both living at St. Anthony their last years.

It was during her husband's last five years where Strasser gradually became a fixture there, mingling with staff, offering a hallway smile or assisting nurses when asked. Since then, she hasn't left.

"This is my second home," said Strasser, who wouldn't know what to do with the 15 to 20 hours a week she spends volunteering there. "I couldn't find anything more rewarding. (The patients) give me more than I give them."

"She's always here for us," said Deacon Bryan Nosbusch, director of pastoral care for Franciscan Communities at St. Anthony Campus. "She's a perfect example of a true volunteer."

In the spirit of a true educator, Valparaiso University professor Matt Ringenberg got involved with Prevent Child Abuse Porter County out of sheer curiosity.

So one day he sat in on a board meeting.

A year later, in 2003, the social work teacher became an active board member.

His duties, in part, have been to relay information to the group about pending bills in the state Legislature that may impact children, for better or worse.

"It's something I can do largely from my office," he said, echoing a familiar reasoning with most volunteers.

In short, volunteers do what they can to help any organization, regardless of its scope.

Since 2003, Ringenberg has noticed other volunteers at the group who freely donate their time, energy and expertise, all with scant recognition in return.

"I was very impressed," he said. "They're a varied, entertaining, self-sacrificing group who I might not have met otherwise."

Why volunteer for Prevent Child Abuse?

Ringenberg said he's a parent who understands the frustrations in that role.

Parents hurt their children for a variety of reasons, but most are simply stressed, frustrated, immature, overwhelmed or unsure how to parent.

"At some point, one or more of those descriptions applies to nearly all parents."

For Byrnes, who moved from Indiana to Illinois during World War II, she's let her mother's example inspire her into countless volunteering stints.

She's served as a church worker and teacher's union representative before her more notable environmental causes with the Calumet Heritage Partnership, Southeast Environmental Task Force and Calumet Ecological Park Association.

These days, however, Byrnes is "really tired" and hopes a new generation of inspired region residents pick up the volunteer torch.

"It's amazing what you get back in return," she promised.