We are very exuberant to recognize Donna Brenyo as our Volunteer of the First Quarter for 2022. Donna has been such an amazing addition to this organization. In just over 2 years, she has jumped right in and has treated the staff and her recipients as family. You see, Donna is a regular route driver who delivers meals with her partner Cathy every Wednesday. Additionally, Donna has been a substitute driver for us so that we may fill spots when others are not available. Again, she treats the recipients she meets on these routes as family, too. When you see Donna volunteering at our various events or helping us pack holiday bags, you cannot help but become friends with her! You cannot possibly miss her personality, smile or laughter.
When I needed to begin the auction process for our upcoming gala, my thoughts went straight to Donna. Donna is extremely detailed, loves numbers, organization, and above all else, works well with every single one of us. I knew in my heart Donna would be the one to share my thoughts from a numbers and process perspective. I have never done an auction like this before now. I needed my hand held. Sure enough, Donna has been with us for hours, days and weeks helping us make this an amazing comeback-story kind of gala. Donna has held my hand, through thick and thin, and I will never forget such teamwork.
As I always do, I love to gain the insight of why our volunteers enjoy what they do. I asked Donna why she spends a lot of her precious time with us. This is what Donna had to say: “After I retired in 2019, I was looking for a place where I could give back and see the difference I was making. I started at Lutheran Hospice, as an Office Admin, but that position didn’t truly let me SEE how I was helping others AND it dried up with the onset of COVID. Cathy Curtis invited me to ride along with her on her MoW run after her long-time partner had to ‘resign’. I was immediately hooked: the staff were incredibly upbeat and welcoming, the process was first-rate, but, most of all, the recipients were happy to see the ‘new kid’ and really seemed to care for our well being as much as we cared about theirs.”
Donna, thank you for all that you do. Most especially, thank you for taking such good care of us while we get ready for one heck of an amazing gala & auction. We are so very lucky to have you in our lives!