Citizens Central volunteer called ‘wonderful’
Jackie Surles does anything needed at centerBy SANDY MICKELSON Messenger staff writer
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While playing Bingo at Citizens Central senior center, Jackie Surles heard the call for volunteers to help at a cooking school at Iowa Central Community College.
She volunteered and enjoyed herself, starting what would become years of volunteer service at the center.
"I just do it because I like to do it," she said.
No one makes her. No one coerces her into baking at home and bringing treats to the center to share.
"I do a lot of baking at home," she said. "I like to bake and I don't like to eat it all."
Nobody makes her bake at the center, either, but she does. "We try to get something different for the Kiwanis because they come in every Wednesday. We give them some kind of muffins or bars," she said.
Surles didn't set out to become a center volunteer. One thing led to another, and before she realized it, she was serving Congregate meals one day a week, helping with birthday parties and other special activities, helping with fundraisers and doing whatever else needs to be done.
Center Director Kim Wolfe calls Surles "a wonderful volunteer, an essential part of us being able to keep the senior center open. Without volunteers, the senior center wouldn't be able to function at all. As far as Jackie goes, there really isn't anything that she wouldn't do in the line of duty as far as helping out with the senior center. She's done just about everything possible. All my volunteers are valuable tools, but Jackie just goes above and beyond. Anything you ask Jackie to do, she's willing to help out any way she can."
Surles said her mother, Edith Hepperle, is very active in church groups and was PTA president back a few years, but Surles doesn't think that led to her own volunteer work.
"After I retired, I got interested in the yoga program at the senior center, and that led to working in the lunch program," Surles said. "We do special parties throughout the year, for Christmas and Valentine's Day. And we do fundraisers for the center. At Fallfest, we sold popcorn and pop outside to make extra money to have parties and do things at the senior center that otherwise we wouldn't be able to have."
Before she retired from Fort Dodge Animal Health, Surles worked in international marketing for 20 years and production planning for finished goods. That's a lot of planning, but not the type, she said, that helps with her work at the senior center.
Then she laughed, adding, "I don't have to think at the senior center. I'm retired. I got out of that stress and the brain part. That's probably why I like it here."
Surles has two daughters, one in Fort Dodge, the other in Moorland. A son died about 20 years ago. She often baby-sits for grandchildren and said she enjoys knitting and crocheting and does that for projects at Trinity United Methodist Church. "I make prayer shawls that are rather simple." And though she's completed just one so far, she said many women have done lots of them for the church project.
She said she's not certain what she'd be doing if there were no Citizens Central.
"I was going out to the mall and exercising, but I gave that up," she said. "I do like the exercise program at the center called Healthy, WELLthy & Wise. That's every Tuesday and Thursday."
The $24 annual user fee at Citizens Central is a bargain, she said. "For that $24, you can use any of their facilities. They have an exercise room with a treadmill and bicycles and other equipment. For $2 a month, you can't join a fitness club."
Surles plays 500 at the senior center, at 7 p.m. on the second Saturday and 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. "On that Tuesday, we also have a potluck. Kim (Wolfe) usually has a main dish, and we just fix potato, vegetable or salad around that."
While she doesn't travel much, Surles said she likes to travel and hopes to take another bus trip to Branson, Mo. "They do all the driving, get all the tickets, drop you off at the door and pick you up at the door," she said. "That's the best way to go."
With Surles' ability to help, though, she could just step in and help get all that done.
Contact Sandy Mickelson at (515) 573-2141 or smickelson@messengernews.net
