Public-spirited people who make time in their lives to support worthy causes help make any town a better place to live. In that regard, the large and dedicated cadre of volunteers at UnityPoint Health – Trinity Regional Medical Center is an especially noteworthy example.

Trinity celebrates the efforts of these praise-worthy individuals with an annual Volunteer Recognition Event. That important tribute took place Tuesday at Fort Frenzy.

The roughly 75 volunteers honored had each helped make visits to the hospital complex easier for patients. The number of hours they collectively have devoted to this activity over the years was a very impressive 268,635 as of May 31.

Aryls Barkmeier began volunteering in 1988 and has since logged 39,174 hours of service. That remarkable accomplishment stands out as especially noteworthy, but many of the honorees had contributed thousands of hours to this important undertaking.

“Tonight you have arrived as volunteers and you will leave as heroes because that’s what you are,” Kathy Moe, director of volunteer services at Trinity told the volunteers who attended the festive gathering. “Thank you for your selfless use of time.”

The Messenger heartily agrees with Moe. We applaud the people who are already devoting time and energy to volunteer work. They are an inspiration to all of us to find more ways that we too can give back to the community.