Rotary Club, other groups keep spirit of volunteerism alive in Butler County
Many of the community projects in Butler County — including playgrounds, museums, community events, and fire departments — would not have been possible without the work of volunteers who give of their time and energy to better their localities.
For example, hundreds of students from Ryan Gloyer Middle School recently spent a morning in late May performing community service projects in several municipalities all over the Seneca Valley School District.
In addition, the vast majority of fire departments in Butler County are volunteer-based, with only one — the Butler City Bureau of Fire — being a paid unit.
While the spirit of volunteerism is alive, statistics show it has shrunk across the United States since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a report released in January by AmeriCorps, 23.2% of Americans formally volunteered with an organization in 2021, marking a 7% decline from 2019.
In Pennsylvania, the rate was slightly higher, with 25.6% of residents formally volunteering for an organization in 2021.
In Butler County, much of the volunteer work is performed by service organizations such as Lions Clubs, Moose Lodges, and Rotary Clubs. One of the thousands of clubs currently in existence is the Butler AM Rotary Club, where Jeff Geibel is currently serving as president.
The AM Rotary was formed in 1997 as an offshoot of the previously existing Rotary Club of Butler, which holds meetings weekly during the evening.
“There were a group of folks back then that wanted to have morning meetings,” said Geibel, who works for Edward Jones as his day job.
Today, the AM Rotary is well-known for their community service projects for Butler, which include fundraisers and community events such as February’s Carved in Ice event. On May 25, members of the Butler AM Rotary spent their day planting flowers for a beautification project at the intersection of Hansen Avenue and New Castle Boulevard.
“We plant hundreds and hundreds of flowers there every year at that intersection,” Geibel said. “We’re just trying to brighten up the neighborhood a little bit.”
Geibel said members of the Butler AM Rotary are “wide-ranging” in terms of age.
“Some of our older members may not be as able to get down in the dirt and plant flowers anymore,” Geibel said. “But oftentimes, those older members really have relationships in the city that help build the connections we need to get things done. Or maybe they have some pull with the right organizations to gain sponsorships for fundraisers.”
Not all volunteer-based organizations are service clubs. One of those is the In Toto Community Resource Center, an organization based in Zelienople dedicated to aiding the neurodivergent population.
At In Toto, volunteers assist with event planning and fundraising.
“We typically find that our volunteers have previously been with the program,” said executive director Sydney Selfridge. “For example, someone will come as a young child to our program, and then years later, their parent or they will get involved.”
Some organizations in Butler County are finding it difficult to wrangle volunteers for functions. The Butler County branch of the Salvation Army has struggled to find volunteers in recent years for its annual holiday season “Red Kettle” fundraising drives. In fact, according to David Means, the branch has had to break from tradition and pay people to ring bells for the campaign.
“In years past, it was all volunteers,” Means said. “We had about seven or eight stands and they were all covered with volunteers. But through the last couple of years we've had to pay a few just to have enough to make sure all the stores are covered.”
However, Means said the local Salvation Army has been able to find plenty of volunteers to put to work for its weekly lunch programs, after-school programs, and Christmas toy drives.
“They help out in the kitchen, washing dishes and setting up tables and stuff like that,” Means said.
