Each year, Sheffield Place hold the Women Who Make a Difference dinner to honor women who have made a difference in the lives of the mothers. Sheffield Place also honors a woman who has made a difference for the families at Sheffield Place. This year, we honored Nadine Horst, who has been a volunteer for 7 years. She coordinates a monthly evening at Sheffield Place where she and her colleagues from Zurich make crafts with the children. Nadine does many other things for Sheffield Place as well. The essay below was written to describe Nadine's volunteer work at Sheffield Place.
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Nadine Horst began volunteering at Sheffield Place in the
summer of 2007. Initially her co-worker invited her to work on an art project
for the Off the Wall Art Auction with the children who attend Project Hope at
Sheffield. She had a great time and felt such a connection with the children
that she wanted to be involved on a regular basis.
She asked the director if Sheffield Place would be
interested in having a group of volunteers come to Project Hope on a regular
basis. The volunteers would provide the guidance, the art supplies and an
artistic outlet for the children. The director said that it sounded like a
great idea.
Nadine sent communications at work to find a group of
volunteers who care about children and were interested in participating on a
monthly basis. Over the seven years that the Zurich group has volunteered the
people have changed but the only month that was missed was due to inclement
weather.
Each year, in addition to the art projects created monthly,
the children of Sheffield Place provide children’s art for sale at the Off the
Wall Art Auction. Nadine and some of the other Zurich volunteers provide the
centerpieces and work at the art auction.
Nadine also co-chairs the Giving Tree project providing Christmas
gifts for the families at Sheffield Place.
What keeps her coming back? It’s the children. She gets to
know them and watch them grow emotionally and physically. They bring her joy
and laughter and hugs. She doesn’t know why they were homeless or anything
about their specific situation. Her goal is to have a positive impact on the
children she and the Zurich volunteers work with.
