After retiring, Steve wanted to do something with his time to help others in his community. “You should find something to do when you’re retired and it was important to me to help out in the place I live,” he says. Volunteering at Neighbors was the perfect fit! Since the beginning of the year, Steve has been self-scheduling his volunteer shifts at the Food Shelf on a regular basis. Some of the volunteer duties he has performed include: marking expiration dates on donated food items, shopping with clients, picking up food rescue donations at local retail stores and stocking shelves.
Steve likes the flexibility of being able to self-schedule for volunteer shifts that fit into his schedule since his weekly activities fluctuate depending on the season. “I have a whole different schedule winter versus summer, so I didn’t want to lock-in to certain days or times to volunteer. I just go online and find out when they need help. I try (to schedule) a couple of times per week,” says Steve. Plus, Steve says, “by volunteering at different times, you meet a lot of people. Everyone is fun – there are a lot of nice people” at Neighbors.
When Steve isn’t volunteering at Neighbors, you can find him on a golf course or dreaming about his next travel adventure. His bucket list of travel destinations includes Ireland, Europe, Hawaii and a European river cruise. Steve lives in Mendota Heights with his wife. He has two grown children.
His final words of wisdom are: “Just do it. Get online and find out what’s available. There are so many opportunities. You feel good after you put in a few hours (of volunteering).”
Interested in becoming a self-schedule volunteer at Neighbors? Find our more information online at: neighborsmn.org/volunteers/short-term-volunteers/.