profile people and neighbors

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013 DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR B1

Millar selflessly helps others in need

Loll is committed to his community

Humility ...

Dedication ...

BY KATHLEEN LEINEN • DAILY NEWS [email protected]

Dianne Millar’s ad-vocacy for the rights of others, reaching out to others in need and her outreach are three good reasons why she was chosen as the Daily News Citizen of the Year.

Dianne is a Devel-opmental Disabilities Program Manager for Southeast Human Ser-vice Center in Fargo and has worked for them for almost 27 years.

Her friend, Annetta Nies nominated Dianne for this honor. One of the reasons for the nomina-tion was because of all the work Dianne does in the community without asking for any attention while doing it.

Her husband, Wayne, said Dianne will be hon-ored by the award, but she tends to shy away from the spotlight. This Wahpeton couple is com-mitted to their commu-nity and prove this by hard work and selfless determination.

“Dianne works for Southeast Human Ser-vices,” Nies wrote about her. In the community she promotes the Kin-ship Program, Relay for Life and helps in orga-nizing the welcome and greeting of North Dakota State College of Science students in the fall. She is an active member of the American Legion

Auxiliary as well.“At Evergreen United

Methodist Church she is on the hospitality and outreach committee, where she sees that peo-ple are greeted as they come to church. She or-ganized Prayer Partners and sings in the choir. Her outreach is also ex-tended to the NDSCS ath-letes who are on campus during Christmas vaca-tion by helping provide a home-cooked dinner for them at the church.

“United Methodist Women honored her as a ‘Jewel of a Woman’ and ‘Special Mission’ recog-nition for her many ac-complishments in mis-sion programs. Dianne spends much time and effort helping the dis-

advantaged and unfor-tunate make their life easier.

“In the past she has joined others on mission trips and recently took part in a mission trip to Grenada,” Nies said.

Besides her work with the church, Dianne plays the clarinet in the Com-munity Band.

Pam Erlandson, direc-tor of Red River Human Services Foundation in Wahpeton, works closely with her.

“Dianne is known as a hard worker who is very dedicated to her work and making the lives of people with whom she works better. As a De-velopmental Disabili-ties Program Manager for Southeast Human

Service Center, Dianne assists many people to have the best services and support available so they might achieve their personal goals.

“Dianne truly cares about what she does and goes out of her way to help others,” Erlandson said. “Dianne acts to help others in her per-sonal life, too. For ex-ample, over the years, Dianne has encouraged and supported people with disabilities to be involved in their church

by ushering or greet-ing other parishioners. Dianne helps with fund-raisers that benefit oth-ers. I have seen her help at various community benefits and fundraisers as well.

“While Dianne is com-mitted to serving others through her work and in her personal life, she enjoys being with others and having fun. Some of Dianne’s work is very difficult and challeng-ing. Even so, Dianne al-ways tries to do her best.

“Dianne is one of those people who might be more behind the scenes helping others any way she can and she is very deserving of this honor,” Erlandson said.

Because of all of these reasons and more, Di-anne Millar has been chosen as the Daily News Citizen of the Year.

Congratulations Di-ane. She joins an elite group of residents who too have been nominated for this honor.

BY ROBYN ROHDE • DAILY NEWS [email protected]

Don Loll has been an active, community-minded business per-son in the Hankinson area ever since starting Don’s Heating in 1967.

In addition to own-ing, managing and be-ing a hands-on business person in Hankinson, he also found time to raise a family and be involved in several dif-ferent civic activities.

In recognition to his commitment to commu-nity, family and faith, Loll has been named the News-Monitor’s 2012 Citizen of the Year.

“Donny has always been very good with helping people,” Dave Paulson said. “To me that is what makes communities like ours viable and special be-cause people like Don, who dedicate time to make it a better place than it was yesterday.”

In his nomination let-ter, Paulson outlines Loll’s commitment to his home today and in the future, starting with Hankinson’s Com-munity Development Corporation in 1971. Loll was one of the char-ter members and has served on the Board of Directors continuously since the corporation’s inception. During that time, he also served a number of years as an

officer on the board.Loll has also been very

active in Hankinson’s Commercial Club, sup-porting and working at the many projects this business club had done to enhance the business community.

“In addition, Loll has played a very active role in keeping health-care accessible in our rural communities. He was a member of the Hankinson Clinic Board in its early years and has continued to serve until the end of last year on the com-bined Lidgerwood-Han-kinson Rural Health Clinic, Inc,” Paulson

wrote.Loll was a volunteer

fireman for many years and served as fire chief of the department from 1987-1991. He currently is a lifetime member of the fire department, but as a retired fire-fighter.

Over and above all of these activities, Loll is a lifetime member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Belford Town-ship. Loll has served in various positions through the years, in-cluding chairman of the congregation, elder, trustee and he present-ly serves as the congre-gation’s vice chairman.

“Don also was very active as a local branch officer of Aid Associa-tion for Lutherans for many years,” Paulson wrote in his nomina-tion letter.

Even with the sale of Don’s Heating to Au-rora, Loll still remains an integral part of the business he started. Most days people can

find Loll “at the shop” fielding phone calls and lending his exper-tise, answering ques-tions about a variety of issues whether they be heating, air condi-tioning, electrical or economic development, said Nathan Berseth, co-nominator for the News-Monitor’s Citi-zen of the Year.

For his efforts in making the Hankinson community a better place to live and posi-tioning it for a place well into the future of Richland County, Don Loll is this year’s citi-zen of the year.

“His dedication to our community is the envy of many people,” Paulson concluded.

‘United Methodist Women honored her as a ‘Jewel of a Woman’ and ‘Special Mission’

recognition for her many accomplishments in mission programs.’

Annetta NiesNominated Dianne Millar as the Daily News Citizen of the Year

‘Donny has always been very good with helping people. To me that is what makes communities like ours viable and special

because people like Don, who dedicate time to make it a better place than it was yesterday.’

Dave PaulsonOne of the nominators for the News-Monitor Citizen of the Year

Citizen of the Year

Dianne Millar

Citizen of the Year

Don Loll

B2 • DAILY NEWS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013

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Humanity ...For the love of four-legged friends

Left: Michelle Johanson began volunteering at the Humane Society because her children were already doing it.

BY CARRIE MCDERMOTT • DAILY NEWS [email protected]

Michelle Johanson credits her daughter, Megan, with introduc-ing her to volunteering at the Humane Society of Richland-Wilkin Coun-ties.

“Megan was in third grade three years ago, and started coming out here with her little brother, when the baby-sitter brought them,” Jo-hanson said. “They start-ed to volunteer here and

that got me coming as well. We have cats, dogs and hamsters at home. We’re all animal lovers.”

The mother and daugh-ter team volunteer for several hours each week-end, cleaning cat cages, mopping and walking the dogs.

“We do whatever needs to be done,” she said.

Megan, now 12, even held her last birthday party at the Humane So-ciety.

“There was a bunch of kittens here then, so they got to play with them,” Johanson said.

Megan even named sev-eral of them. Her mom said Megan has raised money for the facility and even brought in her piggy bank savings.

“For some reason, I always get stuck on something I want to do,” Megan said. “I wanted to volunteer and I had a friend who lives nearby and said I could vol-unteer here. I took my birthday money and bought some stuff at Walmart and brought it here.”

The Wahpeton loca-tion only houses home-less cats and dogs, but does have resources for other types of pets such as hamsters, rabbits, fish and birds.

“Colleen Kaulk takes care of the critters,” said Gabi Lezon, another volunteer. “She has a Critters Gallery and re-homes homeless pets. She does the rabbits, fer-rets, hairless rats and snakes occasionally.”

Lezon said once they had to find a home for an Amazon parrot and Kaulk was able to con-nect with someone from an avian rescue in Far-go. Another time a horse needed a home and she located an equine rescue organization.

“She’s really good at it,” Lezon said.

The Johansons some-times foster pets if they come across one they

think would fit in with their own animals at home.

“If there’s a dog who is older, potty trained, like Inky, who’s a small-er dog. We brought her home and she got along with our dogs,” Johan-son said.

The dogs are walked two to three times each day by the volunteers, who also take them for car rides and when the weather is nice, can take them down to Chahinka-pa Park for walks.

“We try to get them out of here and experience new things, so they stay socialized,” Johnason said. “Some of the dogs are here for quite a while.”

“Some of the cats, too,” Megan added. “There’s a cat that’s been here for two years.”

When the volunteers are there, the cats are al-lowed to roam the build-ing, which can add up to 6 or 7 hours each day. Currently there are 21 cats awaiting forever homes and five who are in foster care homes. Eight dogs are waiting for homes, as well.

The Humane Society of Richland-Wilkin Counties

PHOTOS BY CARRIE MCDERMOTT • DAILY NEWS

Above: The Humane Society of Richland-Wilkin Counties has a lot of cats and some dogs who need forever homes. Due to the many animals at the shelter, volunteers are needed for walking, caring for them and loving them.

Above: Megan Johanson cuddles with one of the dogs cur-rently in the shelter. Below: As long as volunteers are in the shelter the cats can come out of their cages and move around.

Mother-daughter volunteer at the Humane Society of Richland-Wilkin

‘We try to balance it so they get attention while the work gets done. It’s nice some-times that someone’s playing with them and brushing them.’Michelle JohansonVolunteer at Humane Society of Richland-Wilkin Counties

SEE HUMANE SOCIETY, PAGE B9


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Blessings ...Volunteer keeps residents connected

BY KATHLEEN LEINEN • DAILY NEWS [email protected]

In an era where letter writing is becoming a lost art, a volunteer at St. Francis Nursing Home is helping some residents stay in touch electroni-cally.

Carol Waldera, 66, Wahpeton, has been a volunteer with the nurs-ing home for three years. She taught herself how to use the computer and is now utilizing her skills to help 15 residents

email with their loved ones and friends.

“Because of Carol, our residents stay connected with families through one more service we can provide at St. Francis,” said Mary Jacklitch, ad-ministrative assistant and marketing and pub-lic relations.

Waldera is one of 68 volunteers who help both the hospital and nurs-ing home at St. Francis Healthcare Campus in Breckenridge, Minn.

Jennifer Kjar, volunteer coordinator, said volun-teers embody a willing-ness to help, they need to be dedicated and listen to the resident’s and pa-tient’s needs, she said.

According to the St. Francis Healthcare Cam-pus website, “St. Francis volunteers are one of our most precious resources. Without them we would find it difficult, if not impossible, to add those special touches our pa-tients appreciate. Vol-unteers work in the gift shop, greet patients and visitors at the informa-tion desk, deliver mail, newspapers and flow-ers to patients, assist in escorting patients and visitors and work in many other depart-ments throughout our organization. For many people, volunteer service is a special source of per-sonal satisfaction and growth.”

Volunteers at St. Fran-cis healthcare Campus are multi-talented and flexible and therefore are able to fill in on an “as needed” basis to sup-port paid staff.

Today’s volunteers in-clude: Women and men of all ages, people with disabilities, someone with a desire to help oth-ers, people with a spe-cial skill or ability and people with a positive at-titude, energy and time.

PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN LEINEN • DAILY NEWS

St. Francis Healthcare Campus has 68 volunteers who work throughout the campus, helping where needed. Some vol-unteers staff the gift shop, others work with activity aides and so much more. Carol Waldera, above, is a volunteer

in the technology department. She helps residents at the nursing home stay connected with their families electroni-cally. Sybilla Helland is one of the residents Waldera works with each week typing and reading emails.

‘Because of Carol, our residents stay con-nected with family through one more service we can pro-vide at St. Francis.’Mary JacklitchAdministrative assistant

There are about 15 nursing home residents that Carol Waldera, left, works with at St. Francis Nursing Home. She brings a laptop

around and shares emails they receive from family and friends. She reads and types the emails for the residents.

St. Francis Nursing Home volunteer keeps residents in touch with families

SEE ST. FRANCIS, PAGE B9


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Faith ...Strand comes back for the people

BY MATTHEW LIEDKE • DAILY NEWS mattlwahpetondailynews.com

Doris Strand, who was born and raised in Breck-enridge, Minn., said that “probably all my life I’ve volunteered.”

The 89-year-old has volunteered at multiple places through her life including more than 30 years at the Leach Home in Wahpeton. Strand said that she originally start-

ed getting into volunteer-ing back in her college days. Strand attended North Dakota State Col-lege of Science and then followed that by going to Northwest Bible College which is now Lee Univer-sity in Tennessee.

Strand explained it

was a mix of different teachers, professors and pastors she met and talked to through her college career that inspired her to want to volunteer and share what she had learned about her own faith and spirituality.

“When I went to col-lege, I started to think about what I could do with my life, since I loved God’s word and I loved the Bible, I thought I would teach people about it,” she said. “In a way, I felt like I was anointed by God to do it.”

The Leach Home in Wahpeton, where Strand still to this day volun-teers by giving Bible studies, provides basic care services and started in 1965. The home was started by Mr. and Mrs. Orrin A. Leach and is a licensed care facility which is able to help the senior community with its 40-plus years of expe-rience.

Besides her volunteer efforts at the Leach Home, Strand also worked at welcoming new people to the Twin Towns area. Strand would collect cou-pons and help those who she met and needed some help when they first came to the area. The service was called New-comers Welcome Ser-vice and Strand said she usually had around 40

BY MATTHEW LIEDKE • DAILY NEWS

Doris Strand has volunteered at many different places throughout her 89 years, including 30 years of volunteer work at the Leach Home in Wahpeton. She currently pro-vides Bible study lessons for the residents and feels called

to spread the word of God. When she went to college she said she started to think about what she could do with her life, since she loved God’s word and the Bible, she thought she could help teach others about it.

‘When I went to col-lege, I started to think about what I could do with my life, since I loved God’s word and I loved the Bible, I thought I would teach people about it,” she said, “in a way, I felt like I was anointed by God to do it..’Doris StrandLeach Home volunteer

This 89-year-old volunteer spreads the word of God through Bible studies

SEE LEACH HOME, PAGE B8


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BY ROBYN ROHDE • DAILY NEWS [email protected]

The Leach Public Li-brary in Wahpeton has a mission to keep literary material available to the public. Library officials also want to encourage reading as much as pos-sible, but with a limited staff, they rely on the help of more than 80 vol-unteers to ensure people are finding what inter-ests them.

The largest group of volunteers are The

Friends of the Library, a national non-profit group aimed at helping fund libraries across the country. With nearly 60 volunteers locally, the group has two main fundraisers throughout the year to help pour in an extra $4,000 into the library’s budget. The friends have an annual

chocolate dessert fund-raiser in the fall and a used book sale in the spring, for more than 30 years.

“We use that money for special things: We are go-ing to replace the door, carpeting and shelving,” Maclver said. “Wherever they can come up with an idea, we need something. They are there to do it.”

Another big draw for volunteers is the sum-mer program designed to keep children reading recreationally during the months away from school. Teenagers are one age group that Mac-lver noted is a special area of interest.

“We lose the kids from the time they start junior high until they are se-niors doing research pa-pers,” Maclver said. “We are fortunate that we see some of them, but it’s the hardest group to keep en-couraged to read.”

The library has a volunteer-led summer reading program aimed at teenagers, but more volunteers are needed to maintain new ideas.

With the growing inter-est in ancestral reports, the library has noticed an increase in the demand for obituary requests. Since the old newspaper publication section is not indexed at this time, the process of tracking down an approximate date of a

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

The Leach Library in Wah-peton utilizes volunteers for programs conducted throughout the year. Library Director Bonnie MacIver said The Friends of the Library has about 60 area volunteers, but more are needed in other pro-grams. Above: Melissa Bak-ken, adult service librarian, puts books back into the stacks.

The Leach Library is needful of more volunteers to help keep programs going

‘We are just a staff of three and with all the programs and things going on, we can’t always get things done. We have just been very fortunate with our help here.’Bonnie MacIverDirector of the Leach Public Library

SEE LEACH LIBRARY, PAGE B8


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Necessary ...Hundreds volunteer for Park and Rec

BY MATTHEW LIEDKE • DAILY NEWS [email protected]

Wayne Beyer, Direc-tor of Wahpeton Parks and Recreation, has been in his position since the summer of 1980 and said that many of the pro-grams that he oversees are driven solely on vol-unteers.

“Volunteers are integ-ral to many different

programs that we offer,” Beyer said.

Multiple recreation programs are man-aged by special interest groups and these groups are run 100 percent by volunteers. Beyer ex-plained that his volun-

teers number in the hun-dreds.

“Sometimes you have one-day events. You can have one-day volunteers or longer volunteers. It can really vary with each activity,” Beyer said.

Sometimes these peo-ple aren’t directly a part of the Parks and Recre-ation Department, yet Beyer said that they can serve recreation needs.

Some of the programs that Beyer brought up concerning heavy vol-unteer participation in-cludes the Kinship and the Special Olympics programs.

“Years ago, we started Kinship. Of course, all of those mentors are volunteers, which is an example of a program completely dependent on it,” Beyer said. The Spe-cial Olympics program is also made up of a core group of key volunteers who “really run the orga-nization,” he said.

Other sports programs such as hockey, gym-nastics and activities at the ice arena are all de-pendent on volunteer ef-forts as well as those who coach it.

“They are all volun-teers,” Beyer said. “They may have an executive director, but it works with volunteers.”

The impact of volun-teerism has an effect on the Twin Towns that

PHOTOS SUBMITTED

Many different programs at Wah-peton Parks and Recreation are run through volunteer efforts. Above: Vol-unteer Patrick Brej-cha (middle) takes Charlie Moffet and Tanner Kuzel on a fall waterfowl hunt. One of the pro-grams that requires a lot of volun-teers is the Special Olympics program. Wayne Beyer, Parks and Rec director, said some amazing volunteers have given their time and impacted a group of area resi-dents. Left: Athlete Randy Jost, left, works with volun-teer Brittany Beyer.

Programs that have a lot of volunteers are Kinship and Special Olympics

‘There are a lot of benefits to volunteer-ing. It gives a person a chance to give back and leave things bet-ter than they found it, they can make some significant impacts on the com-munity in culture, health and public recreation.’Wayne BeyerParks and Rec director

SEE PARK AND REC, PAGE B7


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The impact of volunteer-ism has an effect on the Twin Towns that Beyer said is quite noticeable.

“It would be a lot less quality of a community if we didn’t have volunteers and as many programs that are dependent on vol-unteers,” he said. “I think Wahpeton has a very good reputation for its volun-teerism.”

One factor that contin-ues to be an important part of people getting in-volved with programs is that the volunteering is done by those from mul-tiple generations.

“The ages do range all the way from young peo-ple and students all the way up to senior citizens,” Beyer explained. “For young folks, they might participate in things, for example zoo cleanup day, or Arbor Day where we plant trees. It is mainly fifth grade students who volunteer (on Arbor Day). Senior citizens are key the same way, they can help oversee a large projector and can be a mentor.”

Having a cycle of new young faces volunteering is what Beyer explained helps keep things going. Planting the trees on ar-bor day isn’t just the fifth grade students though. They become adults and join service programs and become involved with it … what he hopes is to plant the volunteer seeds and influence how these children live their lives, Beyer said. Many of the

youth who are involved can come from different groups and places, includ-ing Boy and Girl Scouts and students from North Dakota State College of Science.

Beyer said that what continues to bring people back is that internally, there is a spirit that drives them.

“There are a lot of ben-efits to volunteering. It gives a person a chance to give back and leave things better than they found it. They can make some sig-nificant impacts on the community in culture, health and public recre-ation.”

The spirit that drives the people to help is what makes up the backbone for the programs. Often times it’s not just facilities that people can see, it’s not all just brick and mor-tar, Beyer said. It’s pro-grams like Kinship, that fills special needs. They have been able to accom-plish many unique proj-ects, and be proud of their achievements, Beyer said. It really inspires the pro-fessional to do more and be at the head of it.

The fact that recreation can last forever with peo-ple is a point of pride with Beyer.

“We try to get youth to learn about the outdoors with the Red River Sports-man’s Club, which is all volunteers. You see the impact it has on folks, knowing that they can en-joy this recreation for the rest of their lives. It has a huge impact.

“What I strive for,” Bey-er said, “is recreation for different folks, what we look at is to enjoy recre-ation year round.”

In his career, there has been a lot of success be-cause of this philosophy that weren’t necessarily in place before.

Creating and generating new programs is some-thing Beyer continues to strive for.

“I look at how can I diversify and I see a lot of room for growth?” he asked.

One of the highlights of his career is the Special Olympics program.

“That’s a hard one to not really love. The people we work with are very ap-preciative,” he said. “We have had some very amaz-ing volunteers who are there for practices day in and day out.”

Choosing a favorite pro-gram though is difficult for Beyer. All of these things are a team effort, he said. He doesn’t know if there is a program Wahpe-ton Parks and Recreation has that doesn’t rely on volunteers in one way or another. It’s essentially in every place.

An ice fishing derby is coming up for Beyer and he said that they are still looking for more volun-teers getting involved.

“The outdoors is some-thing we always have things going on with,” he said.

The Wahpeton Parks and Recreation Depart-ment can be reached at 701-642-2811.

PARKS AND REC: Volunteering may be a lifelong activity

Left: Volunteer Rich Truesdell, right, helps Dylan Por-tales and Dustin Portales hold a big channel catfish caught at a youth fishing derby. Out-door programs are important to hook children into life-long outdoor activi-ties.

SUBMITTED

All ages and organizations volunteer for Wahpeton Parks and Recreation. Above: North Dakota State College of Science foot-

ball players help out at the Phil Hanson football camp. Below: Area fifth graders help plant trees for Arbor Day.


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Besides her volunteer ef-forts at the Leach Home, Strand also worked at welcoming new people to the Twin Towns area. Strand would collect coupons and help those whom she met and need-ed some help when they first came to the area. The service was called Newcomers Welcome Service and Strand said she usually had around 40 people to welcome each month.

“I met new people all the time,” Strand said “they would sometimes ask where can we get some food or do you know anybody that’s got a bed, I would be the one to go and dig up those an-swers.”

Strand started work-ing with the Newcomers Welcome Service in her 50s and did the work for about 27 years. However, after her husband, John, died of Shingles, she said she had to stop the work with the welcoming ser-vice.

“After John died, I didn’t want to go any-more,” she said.

After her husband died, Strand said she would come home from church on Sundays and “would feel so lonesome.” Be-cause of this, she started talking to others, wid-ows, those who were di-vorced and those who were single and decided to get people together so people didn’t have to be as lonely anymore.

“We called it Singles With a Testimony,” Strand said. “We meet once a month and it takes away that lonely feeling.” Every time the group gets together they usually grab something to eat and get a chance to talk. “We get new peo-ple coming there every time,” Strand said.

These days, Strand continues to volunteer at the Leach home as well as volunteer in the gift shop at St. Francis Healthcare Campus in Breckenridge.

“I’m most happy doing what I’m doing now,” Strand said, “Sometimes I think maybe I should quit, that I’m getting to old to do it, but I love go there.” “The satisfac-tion of seeing their faces

when they come in the door.” Strand said was the best part of her ef-forts.

Every time Strand goes to the Leach Home she still bakes treats for them every time. Strand said that the worst thing about it is when people are no longer able to come anymore.

“I hate to see when they leave, sometimes they have to go when they go to St. Catherine’s when they get hurt,” she said.

Recently, Strand was honored with a certifi-cate for her continued years of service at the Leach Home and her oth-er efforts.

“I still have to frame it,” she said with a laugh.

What kept Strand com-ing back to volunteer though was not for the rewards, but the people she met over her time of doing all of the work she has done.

“I met a lot of nice people from both Breck-enridge and Wahpeton and met a lot of nice kids at NDSCS too,” she said, “I always helped in any way I could.”

LEACH HOME: People keep this volunteer coming back for more

MATTHEW LIEDKE

Doris Strand was recently honored with a cer-tificate from the Leach Home thanking her for her continued years of service to the resi-

dents at the home in Wahpeton. It marked 30 years of volunteer work that Strand has undertaken for the nursing home.


loved ones death can be time consuming. Maclver noted volunteers have been gracious to spend an afternoon in the archives, digging through the pages to find the desired obit.

Currently another vol-unteer is working on or-ganizing the section, but the task will take some time to be completed.

“You have to go through every roll and every pa-per to find the obituary and write them down and eventually get them indexed,” Maclver said. “We don’t have time to do that kind of thing so these are the projects we strug-gle to get done ourselves with just the three of us working.”

With the ushering in of the electronic age, librar-ies are not immune to the transition from paper to paperless. Maclver noted the Leach Public Library was fortunate to get in on the ground level of the Gates Foundation. The foundation, started by Microsoft developer Bill Gates, is driven to ensure public Internet access by granting libraries techno-logical equipment. Dur-ing the last five years, the library has been able to purchase approximately $50,000 worth of computer equipment through the foundation.

“It’s really helped us because more and more people who are coming in don’t have computers or they weren’t work-ing,” Maclver said. “(The computers) are busy all the time, from opening to closing.”

The library has 17 com-puters available, but is also a wireless hotspot for those who bring in their own electronic devices.

Beyond the materials available, the technology age has seeped into the way people read as well. The growing popularity of e-Reading devices such

as the Kindle and Nook, have prompted the library to become a member of the Library2Go program. Library card holders can sign in to the online data-base and download the de-sired book straight to their reading device or laptop. Then, when the mate-rial is due, it simply disap-pears from the device.

Magazine lovers can also use the Zinio pro-gram to download their favorite periodical simi-lar to the Library2Go program. The library also offers several online da-tabases such as those di-rected toward vehicle re-pair and medicine. All of the programs and events at the library are free.

“A lot of these things can also be accessed at home with your library card,” Maclver said.

Even with the changing landscape of recreational reading, Maclver noted there are still plenty of people who love to come

in and enjoy the quiet, leisurely layout of the li-brary to dive into a great story.

“We still have lots of patrons who are that way and it isn’t necessarily just the older generation either,” Maclver said. “We have several who come in to read the news-papers every day.”

No matter what your interest, the Leach Pub-lic Library probably has something to entertain you and volunteer help allows it to be an even greater experience for everyone. The library is always looking for ad-ditional volunteers with project ideas. Anyone in-terested in helping with the Leach Public Library can contact Maclver at 701-642-5732 or [email protected].

“There are a lot of peo-ple who have expertise that maybe they don’t think they have,” Ma-clver said.

LEACH LIBRARY: Volunteers help with various projects

ROBYN ROHDE • DAILY NEWSShadrech Aho works on the computer at the Leach Public Library in Wahpeton.


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doesn’t have its own website but does use Petfinder.com to feature its available pets. People can just enter the Wah-peton ZIP code, 58075, and see a list of animals up for adoption.

“We had someone of-fer to build a website for $399 but we can’t pay that,” Lezon said. She’s hoping someone will volunteer to make a website for the non-prof-it organization.

Lezon said Dr. Matz, at the Dakota Veterinary

H o s -p i t a l n e x t d o o r , t a k e s c a r e of the m e d i -c a l n e e d s of the a n i -mals.

“He’s v e r y k i n d , and be-fore we

opened this building in 2010, the animals were housed there,” she said.

Supplies are always

needed, and the main four requested are canned cat and dog food, clumping cat litter and paper towels. Monetary donations are also ac-cepted.

To become a volun-teer, it’s as easy as fill-ing out and signing a form. There are 6-10 regular volunteers, and many others who come in when their schedule allows.

Volunteers can help with cleaning cages/kennels, walking dogs, brushing cats and dogs, and even just sitting

with the cats and giving them attention.

“We try to balance it,” Johanson said, “so they get attention while the work gets done. It’s nice sometimes that some-one’s playing with them and brushing them.”

Megan said they could use a few more vol-unteers to come in on weekend mornings.

Both mother and daughter recommend the experience for any-one looking for a volun-teer opportunity.

The Humane Soci-ety of Richland-Wilkin Counties will be hold-ing a spaghetti feed and silent auction fund-raiser from 5-8 p.m., Saturday, April 6 at the Wahpeton Eagles Club. They are seek-ing donated items to feature in the auction. Proceeds raised will be used for animal spay and neuter, animal medical expenses and building maintenance.

The group’s board meets the third Tuesday of each month, at 7 p.m., and the public is invited.

The Humane Soci-ety of Richland-Wilkin Counties is at 18039 79 1/2 St. SE (just west of

the Dakota Veterinary Hospital), Wahpeton; phone 701-672-1676; pub-lic hours are 3-5 p.m., Mondays-Fridays and 10 a.m.-noon, Saturdays.

HUMANE SOCIETY: Animals are looking for a home and society needs volunteers

CARRIE MCDERMOTT

There are 21 cats at the shelter and five in foster homes that are needing a ‘forever’ home at the Humane Society of Richland-Wilkin Counties. Rounding out the number of

animals looking for a family are eight dogs as well. Michelle Johanson, above, and her daughter Megan, below, are two of the volunteers who care for and love these animals.

COURTESY GOOGLE MAPThe Humane Society is located at 18039 79 1/2 Street SE, just west of Dakota Veterinary Hospi-tal in Wahpeton.


Altogether, the volun-teers for St. Francis put in between 7,500 to 8,000 hours last year. Waldera puts in 35 hours a month and assists the nursing home activity’s aides about two times a week.

“I don’t limit my hours,” she said. “I usu-ally come in by 9 a.m. un-til the activities the aides have lined up for me are finished.”

One of the reasons vol-unteers such as Waldera continue to provide their services is because of the people they meet and the staff they work with, Jacklitch said.

Kjar said there are be-tween 7-10 volunteers she coordinates who have dedicated 25 or more years of their lives to helping St. Francis.

Waldera is retired, but enjoys the interaction she receives on the days she volunteers. Although her work is in technol-ogy, she had to overcome her own fear of comput-ers to realize the impor-tance of this technology. In 1997 she and her hus-band Glenn bought their first computer. She had no idea what she was doing, she said, but got started with “Windows 95 for Dummies.” As she learned more about the computer, Waldera be-gan tutoring others. Now she is teaching nursing home patients how to receive and send emails and pictures.

When she first began volunteering in the tech-nology area for St. Fran-cis, she had to transport one resident at a time to Town Centre Square to use a computer, she said. Now a laptop makes it easy for her to visit the residents she works with weekly to help them connect with family and friends electronically.

When the messages come in Waldera reads them to the resident and types in a response.

Sybilla Helland, 95, is one of the residents Waldera works with each week. She receives emails from a niece in Texas regularly and said it is so nice to hear from her.

“This is one of the ben-efits we see, especially for residents whose fami-lies live far away,” Jack-litch said. “That family connection is so impor-tant.”

Helland knows all about volunteers. She herself volunteered for St. Francis when she was younger. It is the wonder-ful circle that is complet-ed. Helland spent years helping others, now a different group of vol-unteers is helping keep up morale by providing necessary services for St. Francis Healthcare Campus.

“I feel blessed by the very dedicated group of helpers we have here,” Kjar said.

ST. FRANCIS: Altogether, volunteers worked between 7,500-8,000 hours

Today’s volunteers include: Women and men of all ages, people with disabilities, someone with a desire to help others, people with a special skill or ability and people with a positive attitude, energy and time

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ANNUAL KINSHIP AMAZING RACE

Cargill sponsored three teams and a challenge for the Annual Kinship Amazing Race. The Cargill challenge was a “game changer” for many teams as it tested patience & persistence rather than physical abilities.

TEAM WAHPETON

ANNUAL CARGILL KIDS CHRISTMAS PARTYKids from Kinship joined us for the Annual Cargill Kids Christmas Party

UNITED WAYCargill raised money

for the Richland-Wilkin United Way in a variety of ways including cooking challenges, poker tournaments, BINGO games and more.

UNITED WAY DAY OF CARINGEvery year many Cargill employees volunteer to assist

the elderly and homebound folks in our community with various projects including cleaning & yard work.

RICHLAND/WILKIN FOOD PANTRY & HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

Other ways Cargill employees contribute to our local communities

Kinship Amazing Race. The Cargill

UNITED WAY DAY OF CARING

®

profile people and neighbors

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