Volunteer of the Month

Life Doesn’t Have to Slow Down

Life doesn’t seem to be slowing down for Don Vernon, a retired sales representative and the November Volunteer of the Month for his help at the Bethesda Outreach Center.  He drives a bright fire-yellow Mustang GT to the outreach center every Wednesday when he helps with the weekly food outreaches.  He also rides motorcycles; he’s considering buying his first Harley-Davidson when the weather warms up.  “We’re trying to get a motorcycle lifegroup going.  We’ve been trying for awhile, but we just haven’t done it yet,” he says about one of his extracurricular activities.

But Bethesda is where he spends a lot of time.  “I’ve been helping at Bethesda for about 2 years.  I worked for Gerber Foods for 34 years, then sold real estate for 7 years.  When I turned 65 I figured it was about time to hang it up.  Then I started coming out here,” he says.

Among Don’s many responsibilities at the outreach center is leading a team of volunteers to unpack crates of food, and put them in grocery sacks for the people coming for aid.  The week we interviewed Don, he was cooking pancakes and bacon for 350 people before handing out Thanksgiving meals as part of the Bethesda Thanksgiving Outreach.  

“Don does just about anything we need him to,” says Larry Miles, Pastor of Missions and Outreach, “He’s out here every week.  You can always rely on him.”

“As a Christian, there are just so many rewards for serving people,” says Don about his decision to volunteer.  “You get to know some of these people who come here every week.  You see them coming down the line and they give you a big smile.  Some people may be thinking about a relationship with Christ, and some might not, but either way we’re going to show them love.  There’s also the reward of being around your Christian brothers and sisters.  There are some real nice people that help out here, and everybody gets along really well.”

“I would recommend that people volunteer, or be in some type of service.  As Christians, it’s important to serve other people, and to be a disciple.

“When I retired, I just figured I needed to be doing something with my time.  I might as well be helping people, and Bethesda seemed like a good fit.”

If you would like to learn more about Bethesda Outreach Center’s outreach projects, call the center’s office at 806.383.6990.  Also, there are lots of volunteer opportunities like this one at Trinity Fellowship, so if you think you’d like to help out, please call the church at 806.355.8955.