Carol Bowers
Carol Bowers, Neighbors Who Care’s Volunteer Manager since 2011, passed away on Friday, October 27. She had been on medical leave since early August. She was a driving force and one of the public faces of NWC. She recruited and trained hundreds of neighborhood volunteers, planned our annual community fair and volunteer recognition celebrations, edited our quarterly newsletter and represented NWC at countless meetings and events. She was, in large part, responsible for the success of Neighbors Who Care and our growth as an organization.
More importantly, Carol was one of the nicest and most caring people you will ever meet. She was consistently cheerful and optimistic, even in the midst of chaos. You would never come away from a meeting with her without feeling better about the situation and about yourself.
The last project she worked on was our 2017 Community Fair which was held on October 28. Despite our sadness at her passing, it was a resounding success with over 70 information tables, the Sun Lakes Classic Car Show, model trains, music by the Dry Heat Pickers, food and hundreds of participants. If you weren’t there, you missed a great time. We hope to see you next year.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of Neighbors Who Care and they, deservedly, get the public credit for the 19,000 hours of community service they perform every year. It’s due to Carol’s tireless recruiting efforts that we have enoug.olunteers available to meet the ever-increasing need for our services. Thanks to her, we are one of the few service organizations that does not have a wait list of people needing help, and we almost never have to turn down someone’s request due to lack of .olunteer. But we have a constant need to replace retirin.olunteers and to increase our capacity. We always need more helpers and the funds to give them support so we don’t have to limit the aid we can give to people in need. We never want the heartbreaking task of having to tell someone we can’t give them that needed ride to the doctor.
Please help us honor Carol’s memory and carry on her legacy. Show your holiday spirit b.olunteering with Neighbors Who Care. Donate so we can have the support and supplies necessary to meet the growing needs of our community. The comfort we give can be as simple as a ride to the grocery store, delivering a hot meal or changing a lightbulb, but it changes people’s lives. We do it 20,000 times a year, and we can’t do it without your help.
Carol was a special person. She will be missed.
You can contact Neighbors Who Care at www.NeighborsWhoCare.com or 480-895-7133.