ROSEMARY SMIH

Rosemary Smith is a program director’s dream volunteer. She is 72 years young and has boundless energy. Rosemary has been a Chaves County RSVP volunteer since October 1991 and has accumulated 17,879 hours of service to the community. The bulk of her voluntary activity centers on the Good Samaritan Food Program in Roswell, New Mexico.

Over a six-month period of time, Good Samaritan has served nearly 384 families and 1162 individuals. Rosemary is tireless in her dedication to her clients, spending anywhere between 72 and 199 hours monthly to assure that hungry people in Chaves County do not go unfed.

Rosemary, acting as director of St. Peter’s Eucharistic Ministers, is in charge of assigning and making visits to Eastern New Mexico Medical Center patients who request communion or a friendly visit. She has been attending to the needs of the sick since 1993, first as an auxiliary member and now as a Eucharistic Minister, and has given 1352 hours of her time on this project.

In February 2003, Rosemary started volunteering at the Eastern New Mexico Medical Center Thrift Shop. According to the shop chairman, Rosemary works as a cashier, sells merchandise, helps clean up at the end of the day and makes the bank deposit. She has volunteered in this position for a total of 486 hours.

Rosemary is a board member of Lend-A-Hand of Roswell, Inc. The specific purpose of this organization is to organize, coordinate and expedite the funding and delivery of services desired by its member organizations, to those in need of various basic services. Some member organizations are Good Samaritans, Presbyterian Outreach, Roswell Outreach, Salvation Army and the American Red Cross. Summer Soiree 2004, a fundraising dinner, was held in July to augment the monies needed to help feed the hungry of Roswell and Chaves County. Rosemary was active in the planning of this event.

In June, Rosemary was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that kept her from volunteering during part of June and July. She is back on the job now and continuing her good works.