Next year, Eileen Garski’s salary as president of the board for
St. Vincent DePaul’s thrift store will double, according to her
husband Jim.
Hollister – Next year, Eileen Garski’s salary as president of the board for St. Vincent DePaul’s thrift store will double, according to her husband Jim.
“Yes,” Garski laughed as she folded used clothing, “it will double from nothing to twice that.”
It is safe to assume the money she makes working at the thrift store, teaching music classes for kindergartners at Sunnyslope school, and playing the organ at St. Benedict’s church will also double from nothing to twice that next year. But with 30 other retired school teachers in San Benito County who each donated hundreds of hours in community service last year, Garski is in good company.
This week is California Retired Teachers Week, and San Benito County has at least 31 retired teachers doing community service who deserve recognition, according to Barbara Ament, communications director for the San Benito County Retired Teachers Committee.
The entire group of volunteering retired teachers donated 8,637 hours of their time in 2002-2003, Ament said. Had they been paid for these hours, it would have added up to about $140,783, according to Ament. While only 31 of the committee’s 100 members are listed as having volunteered last year, Ament said she is certain many more did volunteer work without reporting it.
San Benito County’s local retired teachers found myriad ways to help out last year despite not getting paid. Garski, who teaches music at Sunnyslope one day a week and works at St. Vincent DePaul three days a week, was a full-time teacher for 19 years in Santa Cruz. She moved to Hollister in 1989 after retiring and eventually became a substitute teacher despite the fact that she was technically retired. In 2002-2003, she volunteered 551 hours in various community service programs in San Benito County, Ament said.
One Hollister couple has a particularly impressive record from the 2002-2003 year. Dorothy and John Rose, both retired teachers who came to Hollister in 1971, have together racked up close to 2,000 hours working with the Community Pantry, Hazel Hawkins hospital, and St. Vincent DePaul. Dorothy volunteered 535 hours last year, and John a whopping 1,320 hours.
Dorothy Rose said she volunteers about eight to 10 hours a week, and her husband about 20 hours every week. They have been volunteering since 1989, when Dorothy retired as a Physical Education teacher and John retired as an administrator and geography teacher.
“I guess we weren’t ready to just sit at home and watch television after we retired,” Dorothy said.
One of John Rose’s biggest community service projects, according to his wife, is recycling cardboard and giving the proceeds to the Community Pantry. He raises about $400 every month this way, Dorothy said, and can always be seen driving around town with his small pickup truck loaded to capacity with cardboard.
“We just got back from playing a round of golf tonight, and he just ran over to the thrift store to see if they had any more cardboard they needed recycled. He goes out almost every night,” Dorothy said.
Both Eileen Garski and Dorothy Rose said they weren’t surprised so many retired teachers donate their time to community service every year, since they see volunteerism as a natural transition from teaching.
“For the most part, I don’t know of many teachers who went into teaching for the money. It’s because you want to do something to help others. When you retire, the need is still there,” Garski said.
Jessica Quandt is a staff writer for the Free Lance. Reach her at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or at [email protected].
