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)
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