Mother-Daughter Volunteer Duo Share a Passion for Making a Difference
In honor of Family Volunteer Day, Nov. 19, Points of Light and Disney are recognizing families with the Daily Point of Light Award. Meet today’s winning family, the Dobson family of Atlanta, Georgia, and nominate someone in your community.
ReGina and Jamie Dobson
People say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and that is especially true for ReGina and Jamie Dobson, a mother and daughter duo that takes every chance to volunteer in their community of Atlanta.
ReGina, 57, has been volunteering for about 25 years, but her passion for volunteerism doesn’t stop with her. She has instilled that same passion into her daughter, Jamie.
“My mom brought me along when I was about 6 or 7; so from that age, I knew that volunteer work was important,” Jamie said.
ReGina began volunteering after reading a newspaper article about a small group of professionals who volunteered in their community by cleaning up neighborhoods and schools. These professionals happened to be the founding members of Hands On Atlanta. The story sparked ReGina’s interest, and her first project was at an elementary school in downtown Atlanta.
“It was very enjoyable,” ReGina said. “You just felt like you made a difference. I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Since then, her role has changed from volunteer, to volunteer leader, to project coordinator and now task leader. She also sits on the Hands On Atlanta committee.
Genora Crooke, volunteer relations manager at Hands On Atlanta, described ReGina as a bubbly, warm and friendly person who always goes out of her way to make sure needs are met.
“She’s there if we call. Even if we don’t call, she calls us to find out if we need anything,” Genora said. “She’s one of the best, the very best.”
Together, ReGina and Jamie have organized and led volunteer projects, built picnic tables, painted classrooms, planted trees, repaired fences and more.
ReGina standing in front of her completed bench at a Hands On Atlanta event.
“I get in there and get my hands dirty because I enjoy that,” ReGina said. “Sometimes people just write a check and give out money. They don’t know what it’s doing, what effort it’s going into. When you work with Hands On Atlanta, it makes a difference.”
Being a military child, ReGina has been around the world and knows the importance of exposing children to “more than just their little neighborhood or their little street corner.”
She believes getting young people to volunteer, as she did with Jamie, will help prepare them for the future and let them know that “you can go wherever you want to go, be whatever you want to be and not let anything hold you back.”
Now that Jamie is in college, this mother-daughter team is separated, but they don’t plan on stopping their volunteer work.
“It’s just the little things and doing a bunch of little things, that will make a difference,” ReGina said.
See how your family can get involved on Family Volunteer Day.
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