Can you spare a few hours a month?

If so, Churchville-Riga HELP can give you the opportunity to make life easier for one of your neighbors, make a new friend, and feel really good about yourself. All you have to do is be available one day a month to make a couple phone calls, or give someone a lift to the doctor.

Chris Walther coordinates the HELP Organization, which provides rides to medical and dental appointments to citizens of Churchville and Riga. She said the service is in need of new volunteers. "If we don't get new volunteers we are in danger of not being able to continue the service," she said. "If you can volunteer one day a month it would be a big deal to us."

You pick the day of the month you are available, and whether you will work the telephone or drive. When a community member needs the service he or she calls the HELP answering machine the day before. As a telephone volunteer you would check the answering machine on your day, then call the driver who has signed up for the next day and let them know they are needed.

As a driver, if you are needed on your day, you will be called the day before and told who to pick up, when and where to pick them up, and where you will be taking them."If anyone is available we would be more than happy to have them join us," said Walther. Some volunteers have been driving since the 1970s. "Some are getting elderly themselves," she said.

The HELP Organization is all volunteer and not for profit. "Sometimes people make donations," Walther said, "And we'll use it to buy stamps." The group mails out its schedule of telephone and driving volunteers once a month. "If one of the regulars is ill, we'll send a card," she said.

"The people we take are really sweet," Walther said. She said the number of community members using the service fluctuates, but usually about 10 people a month are served.

To volunteer, or get more information, call Walther at 293-3176. She said any amount of time is appreciated and working around busy schedules and vacations is no problem.

Anyone in need of service can leave a message on the answering machine at 234-0120 the day before your appointment. Be sure to leave your name and number. "It's really a worthwhile service. For those people who may have recently moved into the community and don't know about it, we'd like to get the word out," Walther said. "Those who do use it really appreciate it."