Easter Seals Disability Services

Get involved, make a difference, change a life…Volunteer! 

Easter Seals has a variety of volunteer opportunities that can help you get involved with our services. Your time and talent can benefit many of our programs.  We have many volunteer opportunities, some of the opportunities include the following:

Volunteer Spotlight
The Volunteer Spotlight section highlights the recent volunteer individuals and group(s) at Easter Seals.  It is our way of saying thanks for all their hard work.  Know of an individual or group who would like to lend their talents to Easter Seals?  Please contact Angela at ahilbert@eastersealsia.org

Bethany Bradish 2008 winner of the Stub and Vi Johnson Volunteer of the Year Award

Thanks to the commitment of Beth Bradish, the Bob and Billie Ray Child Development Center was able to run a little smoother. 

Beth volunteered her summer to work at the CDC without pay.  She worked 7:30 to 4:30 Monday through Friday.  She worked in all of the rooms, but then at the end she mainly worked in the infant room.  Beth was never tardy and rarely missed work.  She was very dedicated to Easter Seals and especially the children at the CDC.  She portrayed excellent customer service to the parents.  She also showed respect to the other staff and to the children.  Whenever I spent time with Beth she always had a smile o her face.  She was someone I liked spending time with.  She was always willing to help anyone who was in need.  She volunteered every week, for about 40 hours a week and she did that without complaint.  This is a well deserved award, most 15 year olds wouldn’t give up an entire summer to work somewhere with out being paid.  She is a wonderful individual who deserves to be recognized.  Her dedication and work ethic is exactly what Easter Seals stands for. 

 
2008 National Easter Seals' Volunteer of the Year, Camp Sunnyside's own Marlene Duvall!

Marlene Duvall was honored at the Easter Seals National Convention in Orlando, Florida as the Easter Seals 2008 John E. and Louise Callaghan Volunteer of the Year Award. 

Marlene has been involved with Easter Seals for over 33 years.  She has been a volunteer leader for Pony Express since the 1970’s.  The Pony Express Riders of Iowa is a volunteer driven, non-profit group.  The Pony Express group’s main purpose is to raise money and awareness for Easter Seals Iowa services.  Marlene has made sure that across Iowa, Pony Express members in all 99 counties are raising money to support Easter Seals.  She has led by example, taking the lead with many new initiatives to benefit Easter Seals.

Marlene taught leather crafting to our consumers when we had a craft training program.  Marlene was very innovative when teaching.  She focused on ability and made several accommodations to ensure everyone could participate.  Marlene has always been a huge assistance when it comes to the care of our horses at Camp Sunnyside.  Marlene makes sure every camper can ride if they want to ride.  She has made sure our campers are safe when they ride too.  Marlene fundraised to purchase riding helmets that were “quick” access and self adjusting.  The new helmets make it much easier to protect the camper. 

Marlene provides training to our summer staff to ensure they know how to properly work with our campers and horses.   Marlene will drive round trip 90 miles from her home to provide horse rides for our campers, child development center children and our adult day consumers.  Marlene worked with Rural Solutions to make one-of-a-kind accommodations to tools with her leather crafting.  Marlene also recruits her fellow Pony Express members to come and volunteer during our respite weekends. 

Marlene also has three generations of her own family involved in Pony Express and Easter Seals.  She has her son and daughter-in-law, plus her grandchildren all involved.

For more than 30 plus years Easter Seals Iowa has been blessed with her loyalty and tenacious ability to assist Iowans with disabilities.  The world is a better place with volunteers.  The worlds that Marlene has touched as an Easter Seals volunteer are endless.  We can’t imagine our work without her help!  Congrats, Marlene Duvall, 2008 National Easter Seals Volunteer of the Year!  We are very proud.

A complete listing of all currently available volunteer opportunities at Easter Seals Iowa is below: