Serving Topeka

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 20, 2009

Volunteers frequently work in anonymity. They are always there when needed, although there's a good chance most of us don't even know their names or that they are performing their selected tasks without pay.

They stand in the cold each winter collecting money for the Salvation Army. They stand in the heat of summer at Heartland Park Topeka, at the Shawnee County Fair, at the Sunflower State Games and a multitude of other events. They work to make Christmas a happy occasion for needy families. They work at hospitals, social service agencies and schools. They deliver meals to the homebound and serve them at various meal sites.

That list doesn't cover nearly all the things volunteers do in the course of a year, but we hope it gives some idea of their worth and the valuable service they perform for the community.

We all know some of these people because they are our friends, neighbors and co-workers, but many others cross our paths daily without us aware of their service and contributions.

The people they serve and serve with in their volunteer roles, however, do know who most of them are and their value to the community, as was demonstrated June 16 at the annual United Way of Greater Topeka's Volunteer Awards Luncheon at Washburn University.

The United Way recognized 14 volunteers, agencies, businesses and community leaders who were nominated for their service in 2008. Among the individual winners was Reed Davis, of the Jayhawk Area Council Boy Scouts of America, for lifetime achievement. Topeka Rescue Mission director Barry Feaker received the community impact award, and Kevin Koen, of the Topeka Literacy Council, received the human services award. All three have served the community for many years.

Marlou Wegener, director of community relations for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, said during the luncheon that volunteers in 2008 contributed 1,380,206 hours to their various causes throughout Topeka, with an economic impact of $19.55 per hour. Simple math shows the volunteers provided services in the city worth $26,983,027.

And those are just the volunteers and hours that United Way can track.

"We know there is more volunteerism that we don't know of," says Miriam Krehbiel, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Topeka.

That's OK. There are more of them than we could keep track of, too. But we join United Way in thanking them for their contributions.