News & Features
March 2005

What the heck is a volunteer?
By Philip Peirce

Last month, you may have read about the Lucy Stone Award. The Quaboag Historical Society honors the memory of Lucy Stone, who wanted her daughter to make the world a better place, by providing an award for volunteer efforts to better the community. I was most fortunate to have been recognized by them last year for my volunteer efforts.

But, awards are not the reason we indulge in these types of activities. The real rewards are a personal satisfaction from our own accomplishments and the joy of seeing others benefit from our actions. Brookfield has been a steaming hotbed of volunteers for as long as I have lived here, from housewife activists looking to offset shortcomings in town budgets with their volunteer efforts to help the schoolchildren continue to enjoy field trips that enlarge their horizons (i.e., the Brookfield Community Club with the Apple Country Fair), to coaches for local recreational providers who step in to help different age groups of children engage in sporting activities among their peers (via the town’s Recreation Committee).

However, volunteerism seems to be on the wane of late for whatever reason. I’m writing this piece in anticipation of educating all of you folks out there who are enjoying life in Brookfield.

One of the most needy areas for volunteers is for coaches for the town’s Recreation Committee. Here is an excellent opportunity to help out in the education of our children through competitive sports at all levels. It provides the chance to see firsthand how your kids interact with others and allows you the freedom to assist them in this part of their development. This is also a perfect opportunity to get to meet other members of the community, especially if you’re a newcomer to town. You may contact Brenda at 508-867-5374 or Denise Senosk at 508-867-6406, if interested.

A.P.P.L.E. Seed, Inc., a community action group in town, has several community projects that need volunteers. The Brookfield Citizen, for example, needs volunteers who can spare an hour or two per month to perform a wide range of tasks. Call me at 508-867-9553 if you want to help out. The Trees Project, a planting of flowering cherry trees that started a few years back, needs help in maintaining the areas beneath the trees by weeding and mulching. Again, the work can be done in small bites, with one or two trees a day being cared for by an individual or more. Operation Clean Sweep, our Earth Day environmental action event in April will require the volunteer efforts of everyone in town who is able. This is when we get a chance to clean up the roadsides that are filled with litter and dispose of it properly.

The Brookfield Community Club always welcomes volunteers in October when it puts on the Apple Country Fair on the Town common. The Brookfield Citizen will let you know when help is needed, what type, and who to call. This particular event is symptomatic of what the Brookfield community spirit has been able to achieve over the years. But, it will always need a fresh infusion of volunteers to make it work well.

Your town government usually has many areas where a volunteer can make a donation of time and effort. Boards and committees meet usually once a month for a couple of hours to conduct their business. A volunteer can really perform some valuable services as a board member. Call Donna Neylon, the administrative assistant in the Town Hall, at 508-867-2930, extension 10, for areas of need and people to contact.

I had the pleasure recently of speaking with Fred Smock, a reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, when he asked me about two volunteer groups in town: the Brookfield Community Club and A.P.P.L.E. Seed. Fred was struck by the fact that this small community could boast of two such organizations that provided such remarkable benefits to the town and its residents, when some others had none, let alone two. And, it was a pleasure to extol the virtues of our community which I love so much, and which I hope all of you do as well.

When the need arises, and the call goes out for someone to help out, go by your first instinct and grab the telephone, call and volunteer, and be a part of a great community.