Volunteer

To Noreene Duggan, giving is receiving. As a volunteer at The Brunswick Center at Southport, she spends a lot of her time giving.

Duggan moved to Southport from Detroit, Michigan. She says, “I have a friend who lives in Wilmington and we would take our bikes to Southport on the ferry. Like so many others, I fell in love with Southport. I moved here permanently in 2015.”

Duggan has been volunteering at The Brunswick Center at Southport since 2016. She says, “The center is a great place for those who are looking for socialization which ofttimes fades in our later years.”

Photos by Melissa Catle

Duggan’s volunteerism at The Brunswick Center at Southport started in the kitchen. She is one of seven volunteers who has helped prepare and serve meals for the congregate meals nutrition program.

According to center director Melissa Catlett, the congregate meals program serves an average of 40 people Monday through Friday. The monthly menu, announced in The Coastal Buzz, is changed twice annually. Each meal provides one third of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for a full meal and each menu is approved by a registered dietician. Anyone age 60 and older may receive a congregate meal, and contributions are welcome. The center also prepares food for Oak Island and Boiling Springs Lake Parks and Recreation Centers. Duggan has delivered food to both of these locations.

Beverly Bridgers is the nutrition coordinator for the Brunswick Center at Southport and Duggan’s supervisor. She says, “Noreene is awesome. She is funny, compassionate, thoughtful, personable, and willing to do whatever is needed to help our seniors. She is truly part of our “A Team” in the kitchen. I can't imagine our center without her.”

Duggan also prepares meals for Meals on Wheels, a program which has been operating from the Southport location since the center opened in December 2009. Casey Freed, the center case manager, first completes an in-home assessment to determine eligibility. Participants must be age 60 or older, homebound, unable to prepare meals for themselves, and not have anyone to prepare meals for them. There are over 60 Meals on Wheels delivery drivers who take meals to nearly 80 local clients, Mondays through Fridays.

Duggan says she volunteers because it is very fulfilling. She says, “I love the clientele and the staff. All of them are very special people and each has his or her own story to tell.” But it’s working in the kitchen that is special to Duggan. “I know that I am helping behind the scenes,” she says.

Duggan is no stranger to helping others. Prior to her retirement, she worked in human resources with extensive exposure to conflict resolution. She has been a past volunteer in northern Virginia for The Virginia Training Center, which serves individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities; Martha’s Table, which offers education, family support, healthy food, and community-led initiatives; Special Olympics; and senior centers and nursing homes.

Preparing meals is not the only talent Duggan shares with Southport seniors. In her spare time, she handmakes beautiful Christmas cards for the homebound. Duggan says, “It’s my way to share. Some folks provide health care, some cook, some sew, some sing, and some entertain. I make cards. Hopefully, they bring some joy to others.”

The Brunswick Center at Southport cherishes volunteer Noreene Duggan, who has volunteered since 2016, including throughout the pandemic when the centers were closed. “She is very special to us,” says Director Melissa Catle%.

Catlett doesn’t know what she would do without Duggan at her side. She says, “Noreene is amazing. She has helped us with so much. Noreene was here when we were closed during the pandemic and she never left us without help. She is very special to us. We love Noreene’s servant heart and appreciate how special she treats all of our beloved people.”