Volunteers make Seacoast work. Needs are growing all the time.

Martha Foley-Jackson has volunteered for the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Exeter for about 27 years. You can find her there most Monday mornings checking clients in, giving them a kind word, a cheerful smile and respect.

“There’s no more fundamental need people have than food,” she said. When she first expressed interest in volunteering, her parish’s pastoral minister pointed her in the direction of Cleo Castonguay, the pantry’s founder and after whom the organization’s Community Assistance Center is named.

“He was just a phenomenal man,” Foley-Jackson said, noting she learned so much from working at the pantry with Castonguay before his death in 2018.

“Cleo was the master of no judgment,” she said. “You never know people's stories. And the older I get, the more I realize we all have our stories.”

The number of people who volunteer with social service organizations dropped by 7% nationally, from 30% of the U.S. population in 2019 to 23.2% in 2021, according to the 2021 Volunteering and Civic Life in America report from the U.S. Census and AmeriCorps.

It also reported the 23.2% of people who do volunteer put in 4.1 billion hours in 2021, which was worth $122.9 billion. A volunteer hour is currently valued at $31.80 nationally, a figure many nonprofits use, but it varies in each state based on cost of living. New Hampshire volunteer hours are valued at $32.54; in Maine, it’s $28.89, according to Independent Sector, a coalition of non-profit organizations.

In New Hampshire in 2021, 317,000 residents volunteered with an organization for a total value of $692.2 million. That’s 27.9% of the state’s population 16 or older.

In Maine, 392,000 residents volunteered providing $873.7 million in work value. That’s 34.9% of the state’s population over 16 years of age, ranking Maine fourth in the nation in volunteering.

‘The backbone of our operation’

Molly Zirillo, executive director of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Exeter, where Foley-Jackson volunteers, says her nonprofit’s volunteer numbers fluctuated with the pandemic though the food pantry never closed. The nonprofit currently has 117 active volunteers. Before the pandemic, in 2019, it had 125 volunteers. In 2020, 43 volunteers kept the food pantry operating.

“Food pantries are an essential business,” Zirillo said. “These are Exeter neighbors in need that struggle to keep food on the table outside of a pandemic, never mind during a pandemic.” During the pandemic, volunteers brought food to clients for curbside delivery.

SVDP Exeter’s numbers rebounded in 2021 with 71 volunteers and in 2022 with 77 volunteers.

“We are very grateful to our volunteers, they are the backbone of our operation,” Zirillo said. “We have a small staff. We rely on the kindness and generosity of our volunteers to distribute food, pick up food and organize food for our Exeter area neighbors in need 52 weeks a year.”

Foley-Jackson recalls how the food pantry grew after purchasing a vacant former bank building in 2011 and moving to its current location at 53 Lincoln St. Volunteers renovated the space. The building now also houses the Cleo Castonguay Community Assistance Center, a clearinghouse for services such as dental care and homeless support, which are available to anyone in need.

“We were in the basement of Michael House essentially, and it was nothing like this,” she said, gesturing to the current pantry and recalling the old days in a cramped space. “I honestly felt like Igor out of the Middle Ages when we brought food deliveries in. We had to open the bulkhead, and there was like a wooden ramp down to the basement and not very high ceilings.”

She said the space limited what the pantry could offer those in need.

She said her fellow volunteers often refer to her as “the oldest,” but she’s actually the longest-serving volunteer. Several other volunteers are older than her.

Now she greets clients each Monday morning, signing them in and directing them into the pantry, which is set up like a store.

She likes to put those waiting in line at ease.

“I greet people when they come in. I crack a couple jokes and just talk with them. I have to take their name. I try to do it in a confidential way,” she said. “I love the volunteers, but I really genuinely love the clients. With the times now, there are so many people who are hurting, and it's important for them to have dignity just as we all should. It's very hard for a lot of them to come to the pantry. All that matters is that you treat people with respect and you make them feel welcome.”

Footprints expands to meet demand

Footprints Food Pantry in Kittery, Maine, is currently operating with an 80-person volunteer crew, which puts in 225 hours each week, according to Executive Director Megan Shapiro-Ross. The pantry’s volunteer numbers have tripled since before the pandemic as the pantry is now open an additional day each week. It’s currently looking at opening a fourth day each week.

“The Footprints volunteers are the heartbeat and engine of the organization,” Shapiro-Ross said. “Only with the full support of volunteerism, financial donations, and trust can we operate with an abundance mentality and nutrition focus to support the collective whole of our community.”

During the pandemic, Footprints operated on a hybrid shopping model, she said, providing a menu individuals could order from. Orders were packed up and delivered to cars at a year-round outdoor farmer's market.

“We have always been self-choice and we operate on an abundance mentality,” Shapiro-Ross said. “That means individuals can shop for as much food as they like and shop as many times a week as they like.”

Gather hits a record in demand for services

At Gather, the area’s largest food pantry, 750 people volunteer over the course of the year, according to volunteer program manager Amy Kay. The nonprofit needs between 40 and 50 volunteers each day to staff its pantry on West Road in Portsmouth, mobile markets, Fresh Food Bus, the Gather Cafe at the Great Bay Community College, Meals 4 Kids, Cooking for Community, a new catering service they’ve started, and other programs. The pantry serves residents in 60 towns.

“We're very, very blessed. We have some very dedicated volunteers,” Kay said. “I need to have over 250, almost 300 unique volunteers a month, some of those could be giving us 20 hours a week. It saves us something like 11 staff positions worth of time.”

The food pantry has seen skyrocketing numbers of its members, the title it gives to the people who use its services. This August, the number of members it served topped more than 10,000, a one-month all-time record for Gather.

“What was 2,000 members a month three years ago is now 10,000 members,” said Patti Gormley, Gather’s development director, who was a volunteer for the organization before joining its staff. “The face of our membership is in every family today. It’s in every neighborhood and workplace.”

‘Tireless efforts, unwavering passion’

At The Music Hall in Portsmouth, volunteer Robin Albert has been taking tickets and helping patrons for 15 years.

“The volunteers here care about the audience members and their experience,” she said. “We know we are ambassadors for the theater.”

The Music Hall currently has 300 volunteers, which was how many it had pre-pandemic. Many of its volunteers have been with The Music Hall for 10 years or more, Associate Executive Director Ashleigh Tucker Pollock said, contributing 17,688 hours a year, for a value of $212,256.

“Volunteering at The Music Hall is not just about contributing time; it's about contributing to the heart and soul of our institution. Our dedicated group of volunteers plays an integral role in curating memorable experiences for our patrons, and we are immensely grateful for their tireless efforts and unwavering passion,” Tucker Pollock said. “We can't express enough how crucial they are in making The Music Hall the thriving artistic haven it is today.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, the theater basically went dark, and then reopened with COVID-19 precautions in place.

“While we had some of our core volunteers opt out of volunteering during the post-COVID months out of exposure concerns. We are thrilled that so many volunteers have consistently signed up to help every week,” Tucker Pollock said.

The Music Hall recruits volunteers in a variety of ways. Current volunteers recruit family or friends. The Music Hall partners with other nonprofits like Ogunquit Playhouse and Gather on events and shows, combining both organizations’ volunteer bases. Businesses and schools often contact the theater, seeking volunteer opportunities for staff and students, according to Tucker Pollock, who said they successfully retain volunteers with the quality of entertainment they can enjoy during their shifts, perks and appreciation events. But that’s not all.

“We can retain such a dedicated core team of volunteers due to the deep human connections that are made and continue to be made,” she said. “Volunteering is also intergenerational as it connects people of different ages, creating even more special bonds. These connections can be particularly enriching for both seniors and younger volunteers, fostering understanding and empathy.”

For senior volunteers, it adds to their quality of life and well-being, Tucker Pollock noted.

“Volunteering allows for building meaningful relationships, fostering a sense of belonging, and enhanced emotional support,” she said. “Feeling needed and contributing to a cause or community can be deeply fulfilling, which, in turn, can combat feelings of isolation.”

‘The beating heart of the hospital’

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover has just about 100 volunteers, working in a variety of roles from providing dog therapy to cuddling newborns. They have given the hospital 7,406 hours so far this year. During COVID-19, the hospital’s program completely shut down because of pandemic precautions and visiting restrictions. In October 2021, the hospital put out a press release inviting community members to volunteer once again. Their numbers have now rebounded to pre-pandemic levels.

“Volunteers at all our hospitals, but particularly here, are really the beating heart of the hospital in so many ways,” said Adam Bagni, spokesperson for the hospital. “We have folks that are former CEOs, we have folks that work full-time, they’re across the gamut in background.”

Dale Roemer and Carolyn Hale are volunteer co-coordinators for the hospital.

“They didn't come back immediately. but eventually the people that have been doing this for a while, the past 10 years or so, those that were consistent and committed, came back,” Roemer said.

Roemer said word of mouth is their main recruiting tool.

“I think this community is a big retirement area. A lot of people come here to retire and want to continue to volunteer,” she said. “Also a lot of volunteers have had a member of their family in the hospital or been in the hospital themselves, and they want to give back because they feel they were well taken care of here.” But the hospital welcomes all ages, she said.

Volunteers help everywhere from the cafeteria to the nursery to the hospital’s day care center. They provide companion care, sitting with long-term patients, doing puzzles or reading to them, or just talking with them. “They give them a little bit of a break,” Hale said.

Current hospital employees volunteer as well as those who have retired from Wentworth-Douglass. All volunteers take a training session, and may have to train more depending on the department they are assigned. Volunteers in a hospital have to be knowledgeable about considerations like infection prevention and patient confidentiality. The hospital also has programs for high school student volunteers and University of New Hampshire students. Volunteers also help with the hospital’s summer camps for children with diabetes or cardiac illness.

They reflected on the volunteer luncheon they held recently.

“You are the the type of people that I like hanging out with, because you are selfless,” Roemer said they told volunteers. “You want to be here, and you have a big heart. And those are the type of people that I think make a strong community and they're just wonderful, kind people.”

Making life better

Ruth Smith, manager of the master gardener program and of the extension volunteer management team, said University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension has two categories of volunteers: episodic volunteers that participate in an event such as a beach clean-up and others who work consistently in programs with 4-H, and community and school groups.

Nature Groupie is UNH Extension’s clearinghouse where many different groups use the Extension network to find volunteers for specific events like a cleanup or research project.

She said volunteering for Nature Groupie events grew during the pandemic because most of the events are outside and allow for social distancing.

“It perfectly met people’s desire to be outside and to connect with others,” Smith said.

It helped offset the decrease in volunteers and hours served in UNH Extension’s other programs. Still the number of volunteers and hours served are lower than before the pandemic.

According to UNH Extension, in 2018, 5,481 volunteers served 206,317 hours worth $5.27 million. In 2019, there were 4,892 volunteers who served 199,652 hours worth $5.1 million.

During the pandemic, in 2020, 4,022 volunteers served 158,881 hours work $4.17 million. In 2021, 4,543 volunteers served 130,954 worth $3.8 million.

Last year, 4,368 volunteers served 175,911 hours, which was worth $5.8 million to the organization.

“For those Extension volunteers working in natural resources, such as master gardeners and marine docents, the focus of the work is outside,” Smith said. “We were doing gangbusters because of that. Gardening became a huge thing during the pandemic.”

The most heavily impacted programs were those which work with 4H groups, and docents who work with school groups because of the pandemic shutdowns, she said, and they’re still struggling to get up to pre-pandemic levels. She said Extension volunteers were sending home learning projects and mailed seeds to members’ homes.

“I was just amazed at the creative ways people figured out how to keep doing it,” Smith said. “I was impressed with how our team pivoted and did some amazing work with kids online.”

Master gardener volunteers make a large time commitment and create and maintain school gardens, therapeutic gardens where developmentally challenged adults work; and with gardens that raise produce for those in need, donating thousands of pounds each season.

“There’s a lot of interesting in the work we do,” she said, “Our volunteers make a difference. Our tagline is ‘Making Life Better in N.H.’ and they really do.”

Ambassadors for the state

There are more than 2,000 certified Granite State Ambassadors, all volunteers, in the state, according to GSA Executive Director Kelly Bryer. Three hundred of those actively volunteer right now. Ambassadors must volunteer a minimum of three hours to be considered active, but many work so many more.

Ambassadors commit to an extensive training course, which teaches them all about the state’s tourism industry, so they can help visitors to the state wherever they volunteer. Some give tours at the Statehouse or staff its gift shop. Others man the New Hampshire booth at The Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts, each fall, enticing people to visit the state. Some work the information desks at the state’s rest stops and at the Manchester Boston Regional Airport.

“They help guests with everything from 'where’s the baggage claim?' to 'what am I going to do in the White Mountains?' to setting up full itineraries for guests,” Bryer said.

In 2019, pre-pandemic, there were 322 ambassadors, who worked 19,119 hours. The GSA did not shut down during pandemic, though they weren’t able to serve with venues closed. In 2020, they retained 275 volunteers and began giving them credit for the hours they spent learning about the state’s attractions, which totaled 9,331 hours.

“We were proactive with individuals, making sure they were OK and focused on education, reaching out to attractions and businesses for virtual tours,” Bryer said.

Training went virtual during the pandemic, and some of it has remained online so it can be self-paced. But the in-person field trips around the state have returned and will remain.

During the pandemic, a lot of younger people chose early retirement, Bryer said, and coming out of pandemic, they’re excited about finding a new purpose.

“I love the new crop,” she said. In 2021, the organization had 282 volunteers; in 2022, there were 274. This year, through August, there are 284 active volunteers who have worked 14,371 hours.

“They’re missing their work. and they’re racking up hours. They’re like sponges,” Bryer said. “Post-pandemic we have the most active of any volunteers I’ve worked with.”

Bryer also noted some former Ambassadors aged out during the pandemic and that some grandparents became babysitters for grandchildren working remotely and without daycare and continued in that role post-pandemic. Some simply found new hobbies.

“But then travel came roaring back,” Bryer said, grateful to have new volunteers in the mix.

She said word of mouth and Facebook is how she recruits. The fact that there are no set schedules and they can pick when to work themselves is a really big draw for her organization. There’s a waitlist for the 2024 training, she notes.

“They came back with a vengeance, with a drive to be useful, to be out there and share their knowledge,” she said. “We’ve always had an altruistic group, but this newest group is even more so.”

In addition to having standing roles in the tourism industry, Granite State Ambassadors are often called in to help a partner with a single event. Bryer said she’s heard from some of these partners that they’re struggling to get volunteers for events. She said there’s been a lot of turnover in volunteer coordinator positions across the state and that could be contributing to a lack of volunteers.

A love of volunteering

Foley-Jackson, the St. Vincent de Paul volunteer in Exeter, also gives her time to the James W. Foley Legacy Foundation. She is the aunt of the late James Foley, the freelance conflict journalist and videographer who was taken hostage in 2012 and executed in 2014 in Syria. She has been involved with the foundation since it was founded, serving on its board of directors. Now she is the volunteer coordinator for the foundation’s annual James W. Foley Freedom Run, which takes place physically in Rochester and Washington D.C. and virtually around the world.

About volunteering, she said, “I would highly recommend it. Volunteering is one of those things where you really want the right fit. This would be a wonderful place for any volunteer. St. Vincent de Paul is kind of my parish. That’s what I say when people ask.”

Volunteering gives her a sense of purpose in retirement after a career in higher education administration. She is also a former president of the UNH Alumni Association board of directors.

“I get a sense of doing something meaningful, food is just such a basic need. I derive a lot of satisfaction from feeling I'm doing something that is really benefiting people, first and foremost,” she said. “I always say to people — I know it might sound kind of trite, but I really mean it — I feel I get more out of it than I give. It's really so true.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Seacoast institutions and people rely on volunteers