No one has calculated how much volunteers really do. But it's a fact that without volunteers, many services to those in need would go undone. Whether it's delivering meals to the elderly, providing shelter for the homeless, clearing brush to create a park for families, collecting food for the hungry or reading to the sight-impaired, we can't function well as a nation without our volunteer workforce. It makes the world go 'round. The Independent Sector, a nonprofit group based in Washington, D.C., reported in a 1999 survey that more than 109 million people volunteer in the United States.
Many volunteers work within groups and are recognizable by their clothing, hats or patches.
But many look like ordinary citizens. There is no age limit, and they come from all backgrounds. They have names such as Caitlin Reilly, Col. Michael Beckstrom, Hope Markowitz, Jeff and Kevin Murphy, Andrew Short, Mike Crane, Samuel Murphy, Ben Johannemann, Victor VonKampen, Eugene DeCarlo, Tex Ritter, Capt. Sean Murphy, Douglas Vincent, Mary Watts, Paul Ott, John Krusher and Nellie Jackson. It doesn't matter whether they are Elks, Masons, Rotarians, Lions, Kiwanians, Business and Professional Women, veterans, auxiliary members, Scouts, 4-H'ers, students, civilians or military personnel.