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Photos by Neal Embry.
Rudy Duda, a volunteer at the New Merkel House, helps take food out of an oven. Duda first came to the senior center with his wife for weekly meals, but he realized he needed to get involved when he saw women that were older than him serving the meals.
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Photos by Neal Embry.
Painter Tina Chaffin works on artwork she helps teach to seniors once a month at New Merkel House. She has been volunteering at New Merkel since 2012.
Volunteering comes naturally to Rudy Duda.
Before the Vestavia Hills resident went to Vietnam, his father told him, “Don’t volunteer for anything.”
Almost as soon as Duda stepped off the plane in Vietnam, his commanding officer asked if anyone would volunteer to venture north for a mission. Duda, of course, raised his hand quickly.
“It’s just kind of second-nature,” Duda said.
For the past eight years or so, Duda has been a “jack-of-all-trades” at the New Merkel House in Cahaba Heights, helping Director Melanie Perry with anything and everything to take care of the city’s senior citizens.
Duda first came to the senior center with his wife for weekly meals, but he realized he needed to get involved when he saw women who were older than him serving the meals.
“I should be serving them,” Duda said he thought at the time.
Duda has since worked with four different managers and now helps in a variety of areas, including Meals on Wheels.
“You have to think about people who can’t get a meal,” Duda said. “You want to serve them on a timely basis.”
For those senior citizens who don’t have any current photos, Duda will often volunteer to take their picture and send it to their family, so they can keep up with each other.
Duda said he enjoys getting to know the people who visit the New Merkel House and making sure they’re happy.
“You feel like you’re doing something that’s bringing happiness to other people,” Duda said.
When he’s not volunteering, Duda continues to run his own engineering company.
The week of April 7 is National Volunteer Week, Perry said, and Duda is just one of many who help carry out activities at the New Merkel House.
“We couldn’t do it without the volunteers,” Perry said.
TINA CHAFFIN
Painter Tina Chaffin has been volunteering at the New Merkel House since 2012, teaching seniors how to paint and complete different art projects.
Chaffin started volunteering after attending a decluttering seminar and a garage sale, and began helping Joyce Dawkins, the previous director of the New Merkel House.
Chaffin, who was a secretary for 42 years, has always enjoyed art as a hobby but considers herself more of a painter than an artist. Her first craft with the seniors was painting plastic pumpkins, and it has evolved from there. Recently, seniors finished painting horses and, in February, painted jar lids, she said.
“It’s just a wonderful outlet for them,” Chaffin said.
Because she only gets an hour with the seniors, Chaffin also makes a point to play games with them and interact with them on a regular basis. She said she enjoys talking with them and hearing them share their memories with her.
“It’s just a fantastic place to be,” Chaffin said.
In addition to helping seniors, Chaffin also spends time with fifth-graders from neighboring Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, who come and eat lunch with senior citizens every Wednesday.
MICHELLE STALLWORTH
Michelle Stallworth, a financial analyst at Alabama Power, spends some of her free time helping with Meals on Wheels, taking meals to elderly residents in Cahaba Heights.
Stallworth has been involved at the New Merkel House for about six years, and got involved, along with her husband and son, with Meals on Wheels after her dad set a pattern of volunteering with the organization through his church.
“I guess it was just a family thing,” Stallworth said.
Stallworth said she’s enjoyed getting to know the different people on her route, some of whom are just grateful to have someone to talk to. Bringing a meal can be a practical way to help someone, she said.
“Nobody wants to be lonely, and everybody gets hungry, so I feel like it’s a no-brainer,” Stallworth said. “I just like to volunteer; I like to give back, to do something.”
APRIL EVENTS
► Fun, Fellowship and Lunch: 11:45 every day.
► “Getting to Know You Lunches:” Wednesdays; fifth-graders from VHECH visit.
► Bingo: 11 a.m. Wednesdays and Fridays.
►Tai Chi and table games: 12:30 p.m. Tuesdays.
► Tech Talk Thursdays.
► Monthly Nutritional Education.
► April 9: Art with Tina Chaffin.
► Closed on Good Friday, April 19.
For more information, contact Melanie Perry at 967-5977, visit the city’s parks and recreation page on Facebook or visit vhal.org.