HOUGHTON - For Scott Pugh, being a visiting volunteer for Little Brothers Friends of the Elderly is an important service in which his entire family can participate.
Pugh, who was one of the LBFE volunteers recognized during a picnic Wednesday at the Ray Kestner Waterfront Park in Houghton, said he began working with the organization about 13 years ago after he started taking classes at Michigan Technological University.
"I was trying to find something to reach out to the community," said Pugh, who is from Liminga.
A neighbor told him about LBFE, Pugh said, and he began his association with the organization delivering meals to seniors. He also is a visiting volunteer, providing companionship to seniors who may be alone.
"I pick people I think I'm going to have a lot in common with," he said.
Pugh said his two children, who are 4 and 7 years old, also take part in the organization's Toddler Tea Time. He and his wife also drive seniors on errands.
"As I think about it, over the past 13 years we've done a lot of things," he said. "It's something that's needed in the community. I really like talking to elderly people and getting their perspective on life."
Cathy Aten, LBFE volunteer coordinator, said the annual picnic is important for acknowledging the help of volunteers.
"We do this every summer," she said.
There were about 100 volunteers at the picnic Wednesday, but Aten said over the course of the past year, about 1,200 people have volunteered in one capacity or another, doing either visiting, medical transportation, delivering meals or helping in the office.
That volunteer help has been vital to LBFE, Aten said.
"Little Brothers wouldn't exist without volunteers," she said. "We depend on them for everything we do."
There are no minimum requirements to be an LBFE volunteer, Aten said, although the organization usually has the help it needs, there are times when help can be difficult to find.
"It's always challenging getting volunteers for projects that are long term," she said.
Sue Bagley has been a visiting volunteer for 20 years, and for 18 years she visited one woman, who died recently.
Bagley said she, her husband, Gil Lewis and their son, Will, who was 3 at the time they started, have all taken part in the visiting volunteer program.
"When our son was little, we decided we wanted to do some volunteering," she said. "We wanted to do something as a family."
Her family stayed with LBFE because there are so many older people who live alone and need companionship.
"There's a huge need for this," she said. "(LBFE) is really a wonderful success story."
Aten said she's constantly amazed at the quality of the volunteer help LBFE gets.
"Our volunteers are just such a caring group of people who appreciate the elderly of the Copper Country and are so giving of themselves, and are so giving of their time and skills. It's just a big family."
During the picnic, long-term volunteers were particularly recognized. They were: 10 years: Hal Behrendt, Vern Simula, Shelby and John Turnquist, Mary Wanhala; 15 years: Paula and Denny McKaig, Lee Parker, Alice Slusarzyk; 20 years: Sue Bagley, Gil Lewis and Will Lewis, Jack Jobst, Deb Fedewa, Allison Hein, Bob and Ruth Supanich; 25 years: Susan Burack, Rona and Lou Helman, Joe Kirkish, Patty Lins and Larry Sutter.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie @mininggazette.com.
