Salvation Army Lieutenant Roger Miller calls her an iconone of those rare people who volunteers without fail and is so reliable that they become a sort of fixture in the community.
Rowina Squires, or `Auntie Ro,` as she is known in bell ringing circles, is an icon. At the age of 84, she still gives almost 12 hours a day to the Salvation Army, collecting donations as she sits and smiles beside her red kettle.
Auntie Ro began swinging the clapper at the Saratoga Race Course a dozen years ago. She didn’t do it to be charitable, she said. Instead, having been retired for a number of years, she just wanted to meet people.
`When people come up to me and they give, I talk to them,` she said. `And after you’ve talked to someone, they’re not a stranger anymore.`
At the race course, during the summer and without a winter holiday to nudge people toward generosity, Auntie Ro said she sees people at their best and worst.
`I have people come up and tell me that they lost all day, but they was saving their last dollar for me,` she said.
And sometimes it’s the other way around. Rowina still tells a story of a woman she encountered her first summer at the track: `This woman was very well dressed, and she was counting money all out in the open.` So Rowina tried to make eye contact with the woman, to see if she would make a donation. `And do you know what she did? When she was done counting her money, she came and gave me a penny. A penny!` Rowina exclaimed. `I asked if she wanted it back!`
Five years ago, Rowina began ringing the bell at the Wilton Price Chopper during the holiday season. Though she still considers it `new territory` for her, she likes it. So much so, that she virtually never leaves.
`She truly is a wonder,` said Miller. `You can’t get her to stop ringing that bell.`
Miller said that, at times, her devotion has come at the expense of her own well being.
While the Salvation Army can pay its bell ringers minimum wage, doing so would affect the social security benefits that Auntie Ro receives. Benefits that Miller said were insufficient for even her daily needs.
`It was getting that she couldn’t even pay her rent,` Miller said. So, because Rowina works for the Salvation Army more than 10 hours a day, and without breaking for meals, Miller arranged for her to collect a meal stipend.
`It’s only $23 a day,` Miller said, `but Auntie Ro rings for us every day she can, so it adds up, and it certainly helps.`
As for the meals themselves, Auntie Ro doesn’t mind waiting until she’s done at 10 p.m. to eat.
`I don’t want to miss anybody that wants to give,` she said. And besides, there is never a short supply of people that want to get her food or something to drink during her long day.
`I say ‘No, thanks, I’ll wait until I get home,’` she said. `I don’t mind if someone buys me a hot chocolate or coffee, though. I get coffee, hot chocolate out of my ears.`
Rowina said she’ll ring in the Price Chopper and at the track until she’s 100 years old.
`That’s my goal ` 100 years. I always get people telling me it’s not going to be the same without me here, and I wonder if they know something I don’t.` Auntie Ro, who has 13 great-grandchildren, and who has outlived two husbands, always tells those people that she’ll be back next year. `I’ll just be a little bit older, I say.`
And if they really miss her, they can come see her at the track this summer. And if you find it in your heart to do so, ring the bell for her for a few minutes ` because, you see, in the dozen years that Rowina has been working the kettle at the Saratoga Race Course, she has never seen a race.
In the meantime, now that the holiday season is just about wrapped up, Auntie Ro will temporarily retire her bell with one thing in mind: `I’m going to get caught up on my sleep,` she said, `and woe be unto him that bothers me.`
SIDEBAR: When does the giving season end?
By CARI SCRIBNER, SPOTLIGHT STAFF
The presents have been unwrapped, the dinners shared, the family visits made, and thoughts return to getting back into the routine of non-holiday times.
For many, the holidays were a time to look outside their own lives and share the spirit of the season with people in need. Whether that meant donating to local food pantries, spending time at a residence for older adults, or making a charitable donation, the season from Thanksgiving to December holidays can bring out the best in us.
The theme of good will to men motivates us, but come Jan. 2, for many, those good intentions are packed up and put away until next November. But sadly, the basic needs for food, shelter and comfort among the less fortunate don’t end when the calendar changes, leaving staff members at area charities hoping the holiday spirit will carry on well after the New Year is rung in.
`We continuously need volunteers; it never goes away,` said Crystal Hamelink, assistant to the Rev. Phil Grigsby, who founded the Schenectady Inner City Ministry (SICM) 40 years ago.
Hamelink said she has seen a trend year after year of volunteer troops rising in numbers in the last months of the calendar year, only to drop off when hands-on support may be most needed.
`We have so much business, we have people lining up in the snow to get into our food pantry,` said Hamelink.
SICM, located in the heart of Hamilton Hill, relies heavily on the time and energies of volunteers to keep the shelves of the food pantry stocked and other essential programs running.
The SICM food pantry serves about 700 shoppers a month, typically adults selecting meal items for a larger family. Hamelink estimates they help nourish more than 2,000 people each month.
`We need help stocking the food shelves, sorting, bagging and handing out food,` said Hamelink.
Even after the winter winds die down, the need for volunteers holds its course at SICM.
`We need at least 400 people to help run our summer lunch program in July and August,` said Hamelink. `We’re actually looking to recruit groups of people to work together, such as co-workers, church members, even scouting troops.`
The lunch program, run under a federal grant, operates at 12 sites for seven weeks, giving 850 children a day picnic-style lunches in parks or on church lawns. By the end of the program, 26,000 lunches will be served to low income children who might otherwise not have a mid-day meal.
`We have a very small staff,` said Hamelink. `Ninety-five percent of our work is done by volunteers.`
The close of the holiday season is just one factor concerning staff members relying on the kindness of strangers. The average age of today’s volunteers has risen, and new recruits are scant. Hamelink said she is struggling to entice people into the ranks earlier in their lives.
`We lose many of our regular volunteers in January because they are older folks who go south for the winter,` said Hamelink. `We can count on them to be back in April, but we fall short in between.` Other area agencies are also hoping to recruit volunteers as `new blood.`
`In our generation, it has become harder and harder to find younger, enthusiastic volunteers,` said Ruth Tietz, director of public relations, marketing and development at The Baptist Retirement and Rehabilitation Center (BRC) in Scotia. `We rely now on retired people who have time to give back to their community. We’re working to augment that with younger volunteers.`
A time crunch following the frenzy of the holidays also contributes to moving volunteerism to the back burner. Think you haven’t got the spare time to keep volunteering at a charity of your choice? Think again.
`People can come in one hour a week and play bingo with the residents,` said Tietz. `We’ll take as little or as much as people are willing to do.`
At Shelters of Saratoga (SOS), an agency providing safe housing and meals for up to 15 adults, volunteers log in a total of 5,000 hours annually, but the skeletal staff of four full-timers still needs help. In order to keep the new recruits in the active ranks, the director of SOS strives to keep their interest level high.
`I jump at the chance to bring in any volunteer, and I work to retain them,` said Nancy Breen Lamb, executive director of Shelters of Saratoga. `When someone calls about volunteering, I invite them to come in and tour the facility. I will match them according to their skills and interests; I won’t just plug them in somewhere.`
More food for thought: Food drives are common during the holiday months, but the need for groceries doesn’t go away, particularly in the middle of winter. Many pantries receive large numbers of canned and boxed foodstuffs, but there’s still a need for nutritious staple foods for dinner tables.
`There are so many canned goods collections at schools and churches that we actually get a glut of non-perishable foods,` said Breen Lamb. `What we really need year round are fresh foods, produce and meat.`
Another key element in holiday giving is the opening of wallets and purses to make monetary donations. If you’ve fulfilled your charitable contribution commitments for the fiscal year 2006, it’s never too early to start up the donations for 2007.
`We always need monetary gifts,` said Breen Lamb. `That’s a need that never ends.`
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