Article from the Sentinel Standard

'I think we're on this earth for each other'

Amy Buckingham of Ionia named May Volunteer of the Month

Ionia Sentinel Standard 

By Volunteer Connections Montcalm-Ionia Counties 
Updated May. 20, 2013 @ 10:38 pm 

IONIA COUNTY, Mich.  --  

Volunteer Connections Montcalm-Ionia Counties has named Amy Buckingham of Ionia its Volunteer of the Month for May. Buckingham was nominated by the Ionia Kids Club, with support from the Ionia County Peace Community.

"Amy makes an impact on people everywhere without noticing. She always has a smile on her face and she teaches people to do the right thing," said Heather Beeman of the Ionia Kids Club. "Without her, I would not be the person I am today. I am told every day I am not a normal teenager, because I do not swear or do drugs, but instead I volunteer in gardens and help people in need. Amy has impacted every moment of my life, and many other lives, too."

Buckingham was one of the founders of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in Ionia County, which led to the formation of the Ionia County Peace Community.

"Amy is always willing to help with any organization that makes Ionia – city or county – better," said Karen Merchant of the Ionia County Peace Community. "Face painting, working on clean-up projects, manning booths, organizing events ... you name it and Amy has done it, and willingly. She truly has a heart for helping and for making a difference."

In addition to the Ionia Kids Club and Ionia County Peace Community, Amy is active in many other community groups, including the Bertha Brock Fall Festival and other Bertha Brock Park groups (she serves as secretary of the park's advisory board).

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Say THANK YOU to  Amy on Facebook

Learn how you can join Amy in Volunteer Efforts by visiting any of these websites.

Ionia County Peace Community

Ionia Kids Club

Bertha Brock Fall Fest

IoniaHost Community Events Page

HandsOn Connect

Amy Buckingham in Action

Amy Buckingham tries to be too busy for the camera, but here are a few shots where she was captured with many other community volunteers!

Amy is an active member in many community groups including the Ionia County Peace Community, Bertha Brock Fall Festival (and other Bertha Brock Groups), AmeriCorps Alums, Ionia Kids Club, McPud (Montcalm County Coalition Against Underage Drinking), Drug Free Montcalm, and several other groups.

She also supports several volunteer organizations by routinely showing up at events and programs including World-wide Kids 4-H Group, Ionia Community Theatre, Ionia Community Band.

If you see Amy out and about this month, be sure to tell her THANK YOU for VOLUNTEERING and congratulate her as our Volunteer of the Month for May!

May Volunteer of the Month: Amy Buckingham

May Volunteer of the Month:  Amy Buckingham

Amy does so much for the Ionia community and now is impacting lives in Montcalm county through her work.  I definitely sipport this nomination.

Amanda Ciluffo - AmeriCorps VISTA at the United Way

Amy is always willing to help with any organization that makes Ionia City or County better.  Face painting, working on clean up projects, manning booths, orgainizing events....you name it Amy has done it and willingly.  She truly has a heart for helping and for making a difference. 

 -- Karen Merchant- Ionia County Peace Community

Nomination submitted by Heather Beeman - Ionia Kids Club

Amy has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. She has been volunteering and helping people non-stop. This year I needed to find a way to make money for band camp and Amy helped a bunch. She made it a goal to find people that needed me as much as I needed them to make a deal made in heaven. Without Amy's hard work to help a friend I would not be able to do something that means a great deal to me.

She has fixed many problems in our community. Most recently her help with finding people for me to work with to pay for Band Camp. This helped because she found people in the community that needed my help as much as I needed theirs.

Amy makes an impact on people everywhere without noticing. She always has a smile on her face and she teaches people to do the right thing. Without her I would not be the person I am today. I am told every day I am not a normal teenager because i do not swear or do drugs but instead I volunteer in gardens and help people in need. Amy has impacted every moment of my life and many other lives too. She also impacts the Ionia Kids Club with helping us in events. She has a great ability with children so she helps to facepaint when we need her. Because she volunteers everywhere she knows so many people and she had the ability to help me gain money for Band Camp.

This nomination was supported by several community members including myself!

ACTION:  What has your nominee done or is currently doing?

Amy sent out an email plea to her friends explaining the needs of a friend.  Heather needed to raise money to pay for band camp because family finances could not afford to pay the costs expected of each student.  In this email, Amy was careful not to mention the names of the family in need, she only described the need.  In the email plea was information about the need and how the teenager was willing to work to raise the money and was not expecting a handout.  This email generated great responses from people needing assistance with spring yard clean up.  Amy spoke with each responder as a  moderator between the teen and the community member in need.  When all parties agreed to working out dates and times, with permission from all parties, Amy passed contact info on to Heather who worked out scheduling each job.

NEED:  What community need(s) does your nominee address?

Not only was there a need to fund band camp, but there was also a need to support local teens!  As moderator, Amy was able to make the basic arrangements so that people who wanted to support a local teen choose to do so without knowing who they were supporting.  And the teen needing assistance was able to reach out beyond her daily circles to seek help.  Often teens get labeled as lazy, undedicated, and impartial.  Often adults have the ability to help, but can't quite figure out how to do so or don't have the connections to those who really need the help.  In this case, Amy was the match-maker as she does in many other cases in both Ionia and Montcalm Counties.  Amy has been involved in multiple community groups and non-profit organizations where she often is the go-to person to learn about what other programs and projects are taking place in the community.

IMPACT:  What is different as a result of your nominee’s service?

As a Volunteer Coordinator, I understand the value of having community connections and the difficult task of finding the perfect matches to community problems.  With the United Way & Volunteer Connections my role is often to be the match-maker between the resources and the need.  Many of the skills I use on a daily basis as volunteer coordinator were gained through partnerships with Amy Buckingham.  While there was no official mentor-mentee relationship, I have always looked to Amy as a MENTOR and one of my best friends.  I am proud that I could share this friendship with my daughter, Heather.  And I am proud that Heather considers Amy a friend and mentor as well!  While Amy would not be one to enjoy the acknowledgement of this well deserved praise, she is one of the kindest, selfless, and caring people I know!  Amy lives the life of a dedicated volunteer and encourages others to get involved in the community in any way possible.

Another letter of support!

When asked to say something about Amy, all things that Amy has done came to mind.  There is not enough time or paper to give credit to her accomplishments in and around Ionia.

She was one of 3 people that conceived to celebrate Martin Luther King day in Ionia.  She took a hold of the project and the first celebration had over 100 people in attendance and it has grown since.  It also changed to the Ionia County Peace Committee which she is a big part of.

Amy helped with the restart of the Berth Brock Fall Festival and still helps with making sure everyone has a good time.  If you need to find Amy on the third Saturday of September she will be at Bertha Brock Park. 

When there is a family or person that needs assistance in one way or other she will figure out how to help.  I have known her to help with family moves, find furniture, clothing, food and much much more!

This just a little of what she has done for this community.  I know of no one that deserves to be recognized as a Community Volunteer more then Amy.

 

David Cook - Bertha Brock Fall Fest Committee (and many more)