Marilyn Bailey estimates she puts in 20 to 25 hours a week volunteering at Fishers United Methodist Church and its food pantry.
“So much for retirement,” the Noblesville resident said. “I enjoy it, it’s fulfilling.”
Bailey, who retired after 27 years as a Noblesville High School business teacher in 2011, was recently named as the Hamilton County Retired Teachers Association’s Hamilton County Volunteer of the Year for 2020.
“It’s nice to be recognized, but I don’t do it be recognized,” Bailey said.
The three honorable mentions were Martha Rockey, Sheridan; Jane Simmons, Anderson; and Deb Carrell, Noblesville.
Bailey spends 12 hours on Wednesdays, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., at her church’s “Come-to-Me” Food Pantry. She also attends that church and sings in the choir.
“I did a couple of hours on Wednesdays when I was still teaching,” she said. “After I retired, I said I wanted to get more involved. I do a lot of shopping for the pantry, especially this past year with the pandemic. The director of stocking gives me a shopping list every week. What they can’t get through ordering from Gleaners (Food Bank) or donations, I shop for. We pick up bread two nights a week from Panera when they close.”
Bailey also serves on the pantry board.
Hamilton County’s 2019 Volunteer of the Year Michael Jenkins, Cicero, was selected from the district Area 5’s four counties (Marion, Tipton, Hamilton and Johnson Counties) to win the AMBA Clock Award for 2019, which was due to be announced in 2020 but was delayed because of the pandemic. Each year, the Indiana Retired Teachers Association Community Service Committee selects one person from each district to receive the Association Member Benefits Advisors Clock for their outstanding service activities. The clock represents the time spent on volunteer hours
“It was a humbling award,” Jenkins said. “I believe we were all placed on earth to serve and help others. I grew up in a family that had economic challenges and eventually realized that members of our community helped us through hard times. I guess it is in my DNA and I strive to build up ‘treasures in heaven.’ As I review my volunteer service, the first person whom I must give credit is my wife, Judy. She is the glue that holds things together and accepted the many hours alone at home while I carried out my volunteer work.”
Jenkins, a retired Hamilton Heights High School teacher, is a board member on the Cicero Christian Church and is a 14-year board member and secretary of the Hamilton County Public Library. He also is a board member, president and CEO of HOPE Family Care Center. At Cicero Christian Church, he serves as an elder emeritus, as a member of the church’s mission team, board secretary of Cicero Christian Schools and as a weekly micro-church leader. He also prepares and helps publish the church’s weekly prayer and praise list.
Jenkins teaches adult Bible study classes at his church and serves as a member of the weekly “mentoring at lunch” program at Hamilton Heights Elementary School. In 2019, Jenkins logged 1,102 volunteer hours and 1,030 hours in 2020.
