Greg Kozol

Dec 21, 2023 | newspressnow.com | Greg Kozol

Retirement has proven to be anything but slow and relaxing for Don Weston. “I didn’t retire,” said Weston, a former teacher and principal in Savannah and St. Joseph schools. “I retooled.”In what’s often referred to as the golden years, Weston finds himself constantly on the move. He volunteers for the United Way, delivers Meals on Wheels for InterServ and provides rides for those who need a lift to a doctor’s appointments or the grocery store.

Dec 21, 2023 | newspressnow.com | Greg Kozol

Use the word “serial” as a modifier and the connotation is generally negative. Not so with Martial Thevenot and his ongoing efforts to benefit the community. Thevenot has earned the title of a serial volunteer. “I am not one to sit around and do nothing,” he said.

Dec 21, 2023 | newspressnow.com | Greg Kozol

There’s something about the wagging tail of a dog or the warmth of its eyes that makes all your troubles melt away. Bill Luce has seen it happen hundreds of times. “I found it very rewarding,” said Luce, executive director of Pony Express Therapy Dogs. “Next to teaching, it’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”Luce’s involvement with therapy dogs began with a simple question his wife asked while they were walking through UPCO one day.

Dec 21, 2023 | newspressnow.com | Greg Kozol

Greg Slibowski doesn’t see the sanitized version of growing up in Buchanan County. As a court-appointed special advocate, Slibowski encounters children with heartbreaking stories of abuse and neglect. What’s shocking to Slibowski isn’t just that it happens, it’s that it happens with so much frequency. “I was kind of shocked by some of the stuff that goes on in town that we don’t know about and we don’t hear about,” he said.

Dec 21, 2023 | newspressnow.com | Greg Kozol

For LaVell Rucker, a commitment to serving others started at a young age. Her mother developed a heart condition and her father suffered from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. “We grew up doing a lot of things around the house and helping mom and dad,” Rucker recalls. “It was really the foundation of what I do now.”That emphasis on the well-being of others didn’t stop when Rucker was raising her own children.