The first Saturday in May is always Dartmouth’s Day of Service, so I wanted to highlight volunteers from our class. Dawn Ellen Carey shares: “Laura Gillespie and I cook a big dinner every other month at our local Dismas House, a residential program for former prisoners in Vermont. We dine with them as well, and really enjoy spending time with them, sharing a cozy meal. Now that we’ve been doing it for a while, I recognize some of the guys out in the community and love saying hi in another context.” Lynn Tracey Nerland in northern California writes: “On Wednesdays I spend my lunch with the kindergarteners at the nearby school doing basic lunchroom and playground monitoring. It is such a lovely break from my regular work. Today one of the kids gave me a big hug and told me that I smelled like the ‘Santa Cruz Boardwalk and that is a good smell.’ As I don’t wear perfume and wasn’t eating anything, I am not quite sure what it means other than to one 6-year-old boy I apparently smell like fried dough and rollercoasters!” Mary Frances Sabo is currently involved with her local library, raising funds to support various programs. However, her career has been dedicated largely to expanding access to health insurance, first at the New York State insurance department and then at its successor the department of financial services. She says, “I consider this to be public-community service. I have seen the positive effects of the ACA in New York and fear for its repeal.” From Nancy Woolf: “Most Saturday mornings for the past six years I have found myself driving with one of my teenaged children from our quiet New York City suburb to the barrio of East Harlem. Our trips are quiet as we would all rather still be home asleep. We are headed to the East Harlem School, a private middle school for underserved children in that neighborhood, where we will spend two hours tutoring and providing homework help for any students who show up for this voluntary ‘Saturday school.’ We are never sure if we will be helping with math, trying to explain how food chains work in the desert or simply listening to a student recite their poem for their annual poetry slam. What we do know is they are always thrilled to see us and their smiles when their work is completed is the best thank you. Our drives home are never quiet; instead, we are sharing their stories and knowing we gained as much from getting to know them as they got from our help.”

—Mae Drake Hueston, 624 Poppy Ave., Corona Del Mar, CA 92625; mdhueston@me.com