Editor’s note: This feature at Wausau Pilot and Review highlights volunteer efforts in the Wausau area. For more information or consideration for a future spotlight, email [email protected].
Name: Jane Blick
Becoming comfortable with new experiences is something Jane Blick has learned through the years. Her journey through the volunteer landscape has taken her to many new places where she has served in many roles.
After moving to the area later in life, Jane looked to make meaningful connections when her husband retired. She started doing some record-keeping for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program at United Way in 2010. Since that time, she has continued to tackle the complicated task of keeping track of all 500 volunteers’ hours each year. United Way appreciates her long-term commitment!
Jane has done other volunteer work for various agencies for varying lengths of time over the past 10 years. She has served as an adult tutor for the Marathon County Literacy Council, helped at the front desk at The Women’s Community, worked as an office assistant at Monk Botanical Gardens and dug in the gardens of Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum.
Jane and her husband, Mike, have been involved as a “Big Couple” for several years as they spend time with a child through Big Brothers Big Sisters. They’ve also read to students at Weston Elementary School in years past, and now each are reading weekly to kindergarten and first-grade students in Mosinee and Marathon through the United Way Reading Buddy program.
Jane’s fun-loving spirit comes out as she recalls stories of the cute things her students have said, as well as her experiences at a corn maze, local theater performances and other children’s events with her “little brother.”
Each volunteer experience has been an adventure for Jane. Just as on a vacation, one might visit new places, meet new people and try new foods, trying a new agency or role is fun and interesting, too.
“Put yourself out there or you will sit home and do nothing,” Jane says. “Just try something and if it is not working, move on. There are too many things you could be doing that will be a good fit! There is a wealth of opportunities out there.”
Thanks to Jane’s positive and flexible attitude, sense of humor, organization skills and attention to detail, many agencies have benefitted from her service.
Source: United Way of Marathon County
