VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT - MARCH 2008
 

JAMIE KELLEY

The old adage goes ‘If you want something done, give it to a busy person.’  Parents and staff at Gannon Head Start Center did that when they elected Jamie Kelley as president of the Gannon Parent Committee.

“We have a great group of parents this year,” she said in speaking about the committee.  “I was a member of the group last year and saw a real need for change, so I ran for president.”

Jamie has three children, a husband and a fulltime job.   Her twin daughters are preschoolers at Gannon.  “It was instilled in me from childhood to give back.  We were active in church and I volunteered in high school and college.  I had a wonderful mom and dad and want my kids to have the same opportunity.” 

Jamie is a social worker who has served as a youth advocate, homeless shelter worker and with foster children and realizes the importance of becoming involved in people’s lives. “I know this is a federal program with limited funding and it can be so difficult to make ends meet.”

With twins in different classrooms at the center, she divides her time between work in both classrooms and as chair at parent meetings.  She also organizes fund raisers and center activities.  Her current projects include planning the end-of-year trip for center children, a Valentine’s basket fundraiser and assisting the children in creating cards for their parents.

“Volunteering is my passion,” she explains.  She volunteers at her son’s school and is team mother for all three of her children’s sports activities.  The family is also active in their church – where Jamie is, of course, a volunteer. 

She spends 10 to 20 hours a week in the center.  “When I have free time, I just come and give.” 

Her older son attended Gannon Head Start.  “School was new to him,” she said. “He was never really around others and learned wonderful social skills here which prepared him for elementary school.  He is doing great right now.”

Her twins enter kindergarten in the fall, and Jamie admits she will miss Head Start.  “I have gained as much as my children from the program,” she said.

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