Flagler residents volunteer as a way to shake the coronavirus blues

Volunteer Lelia Hattersly adopts a mantra she learned at Epic Church: 'We go out and serve.'

By Brian McMillan
| 3:44 p.m. March 19, 2020

Alaina Rumrill and Lelia Hattersly scooted closer together for this photo, but the volunteers were generally spread out so as to be more than six feet away from each other. Photos by Brian McMillan

Briana Ivy

Dylan Harrell

Stefanie Donaghy

Palm Coast Observer
Neighbors

Tired of being cooped up at home because of the coronavirus outbreak, at least five people decided to put their extra energy to good use.

"I hate being bored, so I wanted to be productive and help."

BRIANA IVY

Responding to Flagler Volunteer Services’ call for help, five volunteers gathered for the afternoon shift on March 19, at the Government Services Building, stuffing envelopes to help Flagler Schools get the word out about school choice scholarship options. About 6,000 envelopes needed to be sent out by April 1, according to Flagler Schools Community Information Specialist Jason Wheeler, so it was a big help to get volunteers to make a dent in the pile.

Volunteer Lelia Hattersly wore her “God is for you” T-shirt and explained that her church, Epic, always encourages its members to serve the community. “We go out and serve,” she said.

Alaina Rumrill also volunteered. She’s a Matanzas High School student with a goal of volunteering for 300 hours; she’s at about 100 so far.

Flagler Palm Coast High School student Briana Ivy was there “simply to help,” she said. “Also, I’ve been cleaning my house over and over, so this is a different setting. I hate being bored, so I wanted to be productive and help."

Fellow FPC student Dylan Harrell also helped stuff envelopes to fulfill service hours requirements.

Stefanie Donaghy volunteered because her hours at work had been cut back.

But why volunteer rather than sitting at home watching Netflix?

“I’ll do that later,” she said.

Wheeler was happy with the turnout.

“We see this all the time,” he said. “When we have a need for a quick amount of people to do stuff like this, Flagler Volunteer Services is on the ball, right then and there.”

In the past, he has seen volunteers staff the county’s call center to answer hurricane-related questions.

“I think our community is spectacular,” Wheeler said. “Even in the face of a pandemic, we have volunteers ready to help us out by doing something that has nothing to do with it. They’re gracious to come and help us out.”

Do you have an inspiring story to share about the coronavirus outbreak? Email Brian McMillan at [email protected].

author

Brian McMillan

Brian McMillan and his wife, Hailey, bought the Observer in 2023. Before taking on his role as publisher, Brian was the editor from 2010 to 2022, winning numerous awards for his column writing, photography and journalism, from the Florida Press Association.