National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 by a Proclamation from President Richard Nixon and has since been bolstered and expanded upon by subsequent administrations. President George H. W. Bush famously declared volunteers “points of lights” by his formal recognition of their service to their neighbors. Since 1990,
The Points of Light Foundation has managed the mission of National Volunteer Week.
The week is an opportunity to recognize the key role that volunteerism plays in our nation, states, and communities.
The value that volunteers provide to the community is immense! According to the website
Independent Sector, volunteers contribute $203.4 billion worth of hours in the United States alone! Per the calculations of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a volunteer hour is worth $27.20. That’s the equivalent of at least 75 million volunteer hours for 2020. And that figure is probably a major underestimate. Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout projects alone account for at least 8.5 million hours of volunteer time, not counting other projects Scouts manage which aren’t as well tracked.
In recognition of National Volunteer Week, we wanted to take a few minutes to recognize some employees of MOBLZ who go the extra mile to help better their communities.
Erica Luntz - Support Manager
Erica helps run
Reggie’s Legacy, a charitable organization which provides support to the Durham Children’s Initiative, and the Boys and Girls Club of Concord, NC. She also volunteers time with Ronald McDonald house to provide dinners for families, works with Activate Good to provide and sort toys for kids at Christmas time, and helps at the Durham Rescue Mission to provide meals during Thanksgiving.
BJ Wright - Shopping Properties Coordinator
BJ has been involved in a wide array of volunteer activities for a long time. For nearly ten years she has been delivering meals for Meals on Wheels, in honor of her late mother’s work in that organization. She is also currently the President of the local middle school’s PTO and has served as a volunteer in some capacity in the school system since 2010. She participates in several serving teams with her church and has volunteered as a merit badge counselor for Boy Scouts. A key to volunteering for her is to take her boys along as often as possible to make sure they understand the value of helping in their community.
Eric Garrison - CEO / CTO
Eric is frequently involved with community blood drives and working with a number of North Carolina charities. He is a director of a charity group that has 88 members who put on two blood drives per year with the Red Cross and numerous other charity events. They also collect and pass along to the Durham Food banks and
OCIM around $3000 in cash or gift cards and over four tons of food every year. His charities also benefit Special Olympics and a group that supports people with intellectual disabilities. Eric admits that part of the fun of volunteering is getting to drive the big box truck to and from the events!
Spence has been involved in Scouting since 1978! He is currently the Assistant Scoutmaster for
BSA Troop 327 in Sherrills Ford, NC . He works as the merit badge counselor for many of the STEM merit badges (Geology, Environmental Science, Nature, Weather, etc.) and manages some of the tech that supports the Troop. Additionally, he is the President of
Sherrills Ford Optimist Club, which owns and operates Sherrills Ford Optimist Park (a 100% volunteer-run organization) and offers recreational sports programs (Baseball, Soccer, Futsal, Softball, Volleyball, Football, and Basketball) to over 1,200 families per year. He also has served as the Soccer Director and has lost count of how many teams he’s helped coach.
To all of you who volunteer in your cities, towns, and neighborhoods - we salute you! Whether it be helping at the local food bank, coaching a tee-ball team, or teaching Sunday School, the time you devote to others makes a difference. It makes a HUGE difference! Thank you from all of us at MOBLZ.