Volunteering
I’ve always enjoyed volunteering. I don’t recall all of the opportunities, but some will stay with me forever.
As a young teenager, I volunteered with an organization called ANCHOR (Answer the Needs of Children with Handicaps through Organized Recreation). During the summer there was a camp on the beach for ten weeks. It was a great way to spend the summer on the beach. All summer, each time we had a birthday to celebrate I would bake. At the end of the summer, the staff gave me a cookie cookbook – I still have and use that cookbook.
The most intense experience I had was working with a young boy, Lloyd. Lloyd was very timid and panicked easily near water. Turns out his challenges were the result of nearly drowning. Each day we’d go to the pool he would find a spot as far from the water as possible. I started hanging out with him. Throughout the summer we gradually moved closer to the water. Finally, getting close enough to dangle our feet. By the end of the summer, we were having more trouble getting him out of the pool then we had had getting him in. A legacy moment that will live with me forever.
I had gotten involved with Anchor and Special Olympics because I had two special needs sisters that were always showing their abilities rather than their disabilities.
After my kids were grown, I decided it was time to start giving back again. I started with volunteering for the board for Special Olympics Maryland. Special Olympics Maryland has the largest polar bear plunge. At this point it is so large it is spread out over a week. I never took the plunge but I hear it is exhilarating. As a result of this, I was invited and accepted being on the board of the Monarch Academy – a school for children that are learning challenged.
About the same time, I discovered Rotary, I’m not sure why I was so intent on joining Rotary, but I am so glad I did. Over seven years, I served in many roles: Black Tie & Diamonds chair, a lane directory, secretary, treasurer, vice president, president-elect, and president. Our Rotary Club hosts the world’s largest crab feast every August. It’s all volunteer-driven and an amazing event to watch. Our club will be celebrating one hundred years shortly. 2020 will be the seventy-fifth time the crab feast takes place. Every Rotary club is unique but they all stand for the same things. I’ve had to take a few years off from Rotary for many reasons. Last week, I attended this year’s Black Tie & Diamonds with my husband. I had the opportunity to meet many of the new Rotarians. The response was fairly consistent – ‘Bea Carson, you’re legendary’. Feels great to know I made a difference.
My most fascinating Rotary moment happened in Norway. I was traveling to Oslo for work. The fellow sitting next to me on the plane was also a Rotarian. He invited me to attend his club’s meeting. As it turned out his meeting was at the same time I was scheduled to be presenting. Consequently, he and his wife invited me to their home for dinner. They sent their daughter to pick me up. We had salmon for an appetizer that his son had caught. Dinner consisted of moose he had caught and potatoes and vegetables from their garden. And was finished with homemade ice cream and blueberries from the garden. All of this, simply because we were both Rotarians and thus a true legacy moment.
