What is your name?
Carolyn Wolfe
How long have you volunteered for the Y?
Since 2017
At which Y do you volunteer?
R.C. Durr YMCA
What is your favorite volunteer activity and what inspires you to volunteer?
My favorite volunteer activity has been officiating swim meets. It is fun to watch all the kids get better each time and to see all the positive sportsmanship. I am inspired to volunteer because I feel that parent involvement is just as important for afterschool activities as it is for education. Kids do better emotionally, physically and mentally when parents are involved in their activities.
What hobbies or causes are you passionate about?
I am passionate about child advocacy and helping with programs that work towards lifting up children so they can grow into healthy and happy members of our community.
Why do you belong to the Y and what would you tell others about it?
We started with the YMCA because of swim lessons. From there I began to learn more about what the YMCA does for our community and developed a passion for its mission. I tell others that the YMCA is more than a gym, it is a community center that focuses on the entire community from children to seniors. Nobody is excluded and everyone is welcomed.
Who or what inspires you? Tell us why!
There is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt that has inspired me since I was in high school. I reflect on it if I am scared or when I take on a new challenge: “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
What might we be surprised to know about you?
I am ambidextrous.
If you had a free day and could do anything, go anywhere, hangout with anyone, what would you choose to do?
If I could hang out with anyone it would be BONO! Without question.
The Y’s purpose is to help people build healthy minds, bodies, and spirits. Who has helped you in your journey and what lesson have you learned that you could share with others?
I cannot name just one person that has helped me and my family on our journey. Everyone from the swim coaches to the fitness instructors to the Y directors have played some role in our lives over the years. Singling one out is really not possible. They are all remarkable and passionate, which is something you cannot find just anywhere.