Volunteer offers blessing pay-back

Describing herself as "just another retired senior citizen," Lena DeFreest wonders what all the fuss is about because there are many seniors in the community who do exactly what she does.

Nevertheless, she is the one receiving the deMarillac Award for Dedicated Service from the Seton Health Foundation in Troy.

Mrs. DeFreest, a parishioner of St. Augustine's parish there, is on the board of directors of the Seton Health Auxiliary.

Time to help

"I volunteer because I have time now" to do so, Mrs. DeFreest explained. "I retired in 1995, and my family is grown. I decided to volunteer in any capacity that I could in order to help others. I believe that God has been good [to our family], and I would like to be able to give a little bit of that back to the community."

The wife, mother of four and grandmother of two has done just that, according to Seton Health, which will honor her for "working tirelessly for St. Mary's Hospital and the Seton Health Auxiliary for many years."

Mrs. DeFreest has logged nearly 3,000 volunteer hours in the past nine years.

Auxiliary

She began her involvement as a member of the auxiliary by supporting them financially and working part-time in the hospital gift shop.

After retiring, she decided to become more involved by accepting a position on the board of directors as corresponding secretary, a position she still holds after nine years.

"Our auxiliary has been very active in raising monies for community causes," she said. "Last year, we raised over $400,000 in pledges for the hospital, and $72,000 in support of the Schuyler Ridge Residential and Adult Health Center community in Saratoga County."

Parish work

In addition, Mrs. DeFreest has remained active in parish ministries at St. Augustine. For almost ten years, she and her family have been involved in an ecumenical effort called Hot Meals of Lansingburgh, which provides a home-cooked, nutritional meal on Sunday afternoons to the needy in the area.

Mrs. DeFreest is also part of a team that cleans and maintains the altar at St. Augustine's.

She said that the hours she has donated over the years are her way of paying back the blessings God has given her family.

"I am a strong advocate of voluntarism," she said, "and there are so many who give of their time each day, each week, to help others. St. Francis of Assisi said that it is in giving that we receive. I have received so much more than I have ever given.

"You can't live inside yourself. It's all about attitude, your state of mind. They say that prayer without good works is futile. We must help others; it's our faith."

(The DeFreest children all attended Catholic Central High School in Troy during the 1970s. While they were students, Mrs. DeFreest became a volunteer in the Phone-A-Thon and racked up almost 30 years of volunteering to raise money for the school.)

(9/23/04)