Carma Gilligan

Carma Gilligan is an extraordinary volunteer. She is an extremely committed board member of the Downtown BID and has served on two committees; Streetscapes and Clean Team. The Clean Team is staffed by young men from Opportunity Resources and is Carma’s pride and joy. It is a wonderful program, offering employment opportunities to disabled men while improving while improving the cleanliness of the downtown area. Carma has invested approximately 20 hours per month as a board member over the last two and a half years. She is consistently accessible, and is willing to come to the office to sign checks whenever needed.

Carma doesn’t limit herself to only one cause. After retiring from the Forest Service she enrolled in the RSVP volunteer program in 1998, making herself available to numerous non-profit organizations. The Missoula City Police Department has been fortunate that Carma has volunteered to do ticket tallies every Monday morning since 1999. She has worked other special events, such as the Pawn-a Thon, and helps edit the police department newsletter on occasion. Several times, she has opened her home for gift wrapping and storage for the Cop Kids Christmas Party. Carma also volunteers in the St. Patrick’s Hospital gift shop every Wednesday morning. She started about four years ago and is very committed ad reliable, helping with general office duties as well.

In her spare time, Carma has assisted the American Cancer Society, Missoula Aging Services Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program, the Missoula Food Bank, Montana Campus Compact, Missoula Chamber of Commerce, First Night Missoula, the YMCA and A Carousel for Missoula. She was chair of the Missoula Senior Service Corps Advisory Council and Montana SMP, helping fellow seniors to become proactive consumers identifying potential mistakes, abuse, or fraud in medical billing. During Missoula Aging Services numerous renovation projects, Carma’s enjoyment of physical activity made her a major contributor to the extensive painting projects spanning five years.

Carma still finds time to enjoy activities in the Red Hat Society and is instrumental in coordinating events. Her chapter is called the Movers and Shakers, and Carma is probably one of the reasons why! She was a key planner in the “Convergence” of 680 Red Hatters from all over the U.S. and Canada in September of 2006. She is extremely organized and was in charge of registration, name tags, table favors, and gift bags for every person in attendance. Once again she opened her home for work parties to stuff the bags with gifts and coupons from local businesses.