22 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY APRIL 24-30, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com Give Back For Volunteer Appreciation Week, a reflection on the giving (and getting) that volunteerism brings. By Sara Rubin FORUM The invisible fingerprints of volunteers are all around us, but they are visible when we choose to look. From youth sports programs to park cleanups to water quality data, volunteers are quietly helping us run a civil society and improve quality of life. I reached out to a couple of local volunteers for Volunteer Appreciation Week (April 20-26), and they made clear that it’s not just about the work they do enhancing the world for all the rest of us—they too have been altered for the better by their volunteerism. Perhaps it works best when volunteer gigs are driven not by guilt, but by much more positive motivators—professional advancement, skills building, creating community. It makes volunteering something we want to do, not something we have to do. Christine Whisler of Seaside long had an interest in native trees and other plants, and when walking her son to school during the pandemic, discovered native plants in some of Seaside’s pocket parks. She started pulling weeds around them, with some uncertainty. She realized the native pollinator species were planted by members of the local nonprofit Friends of Seaside Parks Association, which teams up with the City to leverage volunteer projects to improve city parks. Whisler started joining in weekly cleanups every Saturday morning, and found not only an opportunity to enhance her knowledge and passion for plants, but also to connect. “I just can’t say how good this has been for me,” she says. “Meeting all these likeminded people in my community, I didn’t expect that. I am an introvert, but to have that community engagement is really important to me.” For Michele Vaz, who arrived in Monterey in 2023 from Brazil to accompany her husband, who serves in the Brazilian Navy and is pursuing a master’s degree at the Naval Postgraduate School, volunteering with the Montage Health Foundation was driven largely by a motivation to learn. In Brazil as a doctor’s aide, she has worked in intensive care, ultrasounds, physical therapy, respiratory therapy and ventilation. (She’s also a professor of health, and continues teaching remotely.) Her Brazilian credentials translate differently in the U.S., but she was eager to learn about how the medical system functions. She greets patients in the emergency department at CHOMP, among other roles. She’s been observing closely, with notes about efficiencies and getting patients placed faster, that she plans to bring back home. But she’s also gained something intangible, while working on improving her English: “It is like my new family here,” she says. Whisler recommends finding what you love, and thinking about volunteering less as an assignment than as a way to advance that passion. If you feel lost, Community Builders for Monterey County offers a sort of matchmaking service to help prospective volunteers find out where their skills and interests might be needed. Maybe it will do more than improve the community, but make your own life better, too. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. To view the Community Builders database, visit combuildersmc.org. OPINION “It’s like my new family here.” Experience the perfect fusion of craftsmanship and elegance at our exclusive Mother’s Day event. Showcasing designer handmade bespoke jewelry, exquisite jewelry beaded bags and artistic crochet flower arrangements. Mission Street & 5th Carmel by-the-Sea MAY 9, 2025 | 2:30-6PM shirting trousers outerwear knits sport coats 8106 made to measure event made in italy friday-sunday, april 25th-27th special guest fitting expert todd davidson
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