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A passion to give back and make the community a better place unites FLORIDA TODAY’s three finalists for the Volunteer of the Year award.
Knowing that they could make the world a better place because of their impact drives Dorothy “Dot” Linson, Riley Renfro and Sharon Rivera to do just that.
Whether it’s 17-year-old Renfro nursing injured animals back to health, 84-year-old Linson feeding hungry children, or 65-year-old Rivera working with special-needs students, each of these volunteers has one in some way immeasurable contribution to their community.
Meet this year’s finalists:
Dot Linson knows the need
Linson grew up in Alabama, the daughter of a sharecropper. She was unable to finish school herself as she was expected to help with the cotton harvest and contribute to the family income. So she has spent her life making sure her children are educated and cared for, and even now works relentlessly to provide for others in her community as well.
Her belief in God compels her to help those around her, both to give back to God and to express His love for others through their own actions.
“I always prepare dinner on Sundays and always have enough food left on extra plates. In the summer I just always cook food for the children’s reading and feeding program. In the summer I prepare a nice meal with vegetables and meat for the kids,” she said.
She also spends time preparing meals for children after school at the Melbourne Community Centre. Growing up on a farm, she knew what it was like to be hungry, to miss school because she had no shoes. Part of their mission is to ensure that children in their own community do not face similar disadvantages.
“This boy came in and said, ‘Oh my god, it smells good in here,'” she recalled. Nurturing this child and their enjoyment of her cooking motivates her to do what she does.
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“They come from school, they can come here and get a plate. I’m happy that they get a full menu for the day,” she said.
“From my childhood my parents raised us sharecropping and we had very little all our lives. I raised my five children on my own and prayed for my children to go to school, which I couldn’t,” she said.
“That’s what drives me to reach out because I know what it’s like to have nothing. If you give as the Lord says, you have nothing to worry about. It will come back to you.”
Nature’s health is Renfro’s future
During her brief stint as a volunteer at Florida Wildlife Hospital, Riley Renfro has already spent more hours than anyone tending to the sick and injured animals that come through. Since starting at the Wildlife Hospital earlier this year, Renfro has been involved in everything from the menial tasks of cleaning to restoring the animals to full health and reintegrating them into their ecosystems.
In addition to working with animals, Renfro, who takes classes at Eastern Florida State College, also dedicates her time to Suntree United Methodist Church, where she is a middle school youth group leader and volunteers with elementary and preschool children and works on special events throughout year round.
Renfro’s philosophy of volunteering is that no task is too small. “I do what needs to be done. My goal is to be as helpful as possible to the hospital and wildlife,” she said.
Tidying up cages, cleaning up treatment areas and completing the many unseen chores that go into running a wildlife hospital are never too much of a chore for Renfro. It’s worth it when she sees the work pay off.
“I have this really special memory of releasing an injured rat snake,” Renfro said. She had been involved in every step of the snake’s recovery from its admission to its release.
“Getting dressing changes and seeing him improve over his time in the hospital. I was the one who got to release him and see him return to the wild and help improve his ecosystem. I needed to make a difference in the life of this one snake, but also in our local community was why I wanted to do this,” Renfro said.
“If I don’t try to do something to help, it may not get done. You can’t sit by and do nothing when there’s so much to do,” she said.
“I want my community to be a place where my friends and family and future generations have a good environment and make sure the animals have the same here,” she added.
Human connections drive Rivera
Sharon Rivera is another member of the community doing what needs to be done. When Bone Builders osteoporosis prevention classes ran out of volunteers and women were at risk of missing out, Rivera coached and took over conducting these classes to ensure the health of these women was protected.
She is known for meeting people in person and helping them feel recognized and seen by improving people’s lives through their actions, whether it’s feeding people with Meals on Wheels or working with teenagers special needs at Brevard Zoo.
Her work with Meals on Wheels is as much about making individual connections with people as it is about nurturing them, especially as the coronavirus pandemic causes so many to feel more isolated than ever.
“I find it very rewarding because I enjoy being with people from the community, especially older people. A lot of people live alone and don’t have anyone who might come over and talk to them as often,” Rivera said.
“I volunteer at Brevard Zoo and work with students there… they come and we look after them. When I teach them and encourage them to be more social with others, I can really make a difference in their lives,” Rivera said.
For myself, it makes me feel good to connect with others and to be able to put a smile on someone’s face. I try to use different things to start a conversation. It seems like people appreciate that life is all about,” Rivera said.
Building those connections and reaching out to people where they are gives meaning and purpose to the retired elementary school teacher, who cannot imagine life without service to others.
The winner will be announced at an invitational event in December. The 2019 Volunteer of the Year winner was Erin Baird. She teaches at Eastern Florida State College and guides youth into community service through the college’s Rotaract group. She also donates hundreds of hours of her time each year to efforts ranging from working as a Big Sister and Cocoa High’s Graduation Project to packing food, cleaning lagoons and promoting sustainable eating.
Tyler Vazquez is the North Brevard Watchdog Reporter on FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Vazquez at 321-917-7491 or [email protected] Twitter: @tyler_vazquez
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