VICKIE VOGT PUTS NEW LONDON BAKERY BREAD ON A COMMUNAL SHELF AT THE LINK IN NEW LONDON.
He says his job and his volunteer activities go handin-hand. As a funeral director, it’s important to stay involved in the community. “You choose this profession because you like helping people,” he says.
“As a family, we do volunteering together. It’s just part of our fabric.” – Steve Maher One of Steve’s most time-consuming volunteer projects is Ribfest, a summer fundraiser and barbecue contest in its fourth year, raising money for The Link. As an event co-chair, he helps put together the day. That means everything from getting the meat to securing the teams, to finalizing the location, applying for food permits and recruiting over 100 pie donations. Even participating in the barbecue contest himself. Typically, up to 1,500 people attend, buying rib samples and voting on the best. That can make for a time-consuming summer. But for
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Steve, it’s a family affair. Last year, his family baked 50 of the donated pies. “That then kind of becomes a fun event at our house,” he says. “As a family, we do volunteering together. It’s just part of our fabric.” Volunteering wasn’t something he set out to do when he moved to the area in 2000. But he was invited to join the local Lions Club, and his volunteer engagement only grew from there. “It becomes a culture of giving, you know?” he says. “It feels right to give back.”
It’s a passion. Vickie can still remember her first volunteer opportunity. At 19, she was a Willmar Community College student, visiting her parents in Hutchinson on the weekends. She was recruited by the local Lutheran church to be president of the women’s group there – the youngest member by far. “I mean, really, seriously, who does that?” she recalls, laughing. “I don’t know, I got it initiated in my blood early in life to volunteer to do things.” Continued on page 11