Just the other week, Ruth Perry was sorting through some old paperwork when she found her resignation letter from her job with the Social Security department.

Tuesday, March 20, 2001

Just the other week, Ruth Perry was sorting through some old paperwork when she found her resignation letter from her job with the Social Security department. She was retiring, it said, so she could devote more time to volunteering.

Since then, the Northwood, Iowa native’s days have been busy. She has been President of the St. John’s Lutheran Home Auxiliary, and named Volunteer of the Year. A &uot;professional volunteer&uot; for the past 11 years, through the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, Perry donates her time to the Albert Lea Art Center, Good Samaritan and St. John’s long-term care facilities, Community Action and Partners in Health.

In her spare time she single-handedly handles the food assistance program, delivering salads to non-profit organizations and large families.

She is a punctual and responsible volunteer, said Community Action Executive Director Collette Turcotte.

&uot;She is just so committed,&uot; Turcotte said.

The food assistance program started in the mid 1990s when Mrs. Gerry’s Kitchen asked Community Action to distribute their surplus and irregular food, Turcotte said.

For three years, Community Action staff distributed the food to non-profits and places that feed low to mid income or special needs individuals. But as Community Action’s programs grew, they found the distribution was more than they could handle, Perry

said. About three years ago, they were going to have to drop the program.

&uot;But then this wonderful volunteer said she’d do it,&uot; Turcotte said. &uot;And now she runs the whole thing.&uot;

Perry keeps records of organizations to deliver to, like SEMCAC, Rathjen House, Woodvale, Salvation Army, Headstart, and the Albert Lea Community Child Care Center. She also distributes food to several large low-to-middle-income families.

She never knows when Mrs. Gerry’s will call and tell her there’s food for her on the loading dock, and she never knows what she will find when she gets there.

&uot;Depending on what I have, I kind of make my decision where I’m going to go,&uot; she said.

One morning when she got to the dock, there were more than 200 containers of salads to distribute. So much that she had to make two trips.

&uot;You should have seen my van,&uot; she said. &uot;It was loaded as high as it could get.&uot;

Perry bought her van specifically so she could do this kind of work, Turcotte said.

As a Technical Sergeant in the Air Force, and later as an Administrator for the Social Security Administration, Perry was always aware of the community’s need for volunteers. Now that she is older, she can relate to other seniors and enjoys the difference she can make in peoples’ lives.

&uot;If I didn’t do it, there was no way of getting it delivered,&uot; Perry said. &uot;It’s a program that I do because it’s good food and there’s people that need it.&uot;