Our corps of enthusiastic volunteers personify Surrey’s “Neighbor Helping Neighbor” ethos and catalyze Surrey’s mission. One of the most dedicated—and talented—is Terri Howell, who has been volunteering at Surrey since 2015: “I had just retired, and a friend told me about Surrey. I wasn’t there more than a couple of times and the next thing I knew I was in the kitchen volunteering! I’m just somebody who always says, ‘If you need help, I’m there’.”
And that was only the beginning. On any given day at the new Delaware County Center for Healthy Living in Broomall, you may find Terri serving lunch in the cafe, or teaching a craft class, or making lovely gift baskets for Surrey special events like our recent “Spring Fling” at Broomall. And she’s a member of “Knit Wits,” a lively knitting circle that meets each week and Terri describes as “one of the most fun things I do here.”
Terri also served on the committee for the volunteer-appreciation luncheon for several years. It should come as no surprise that she was named Surrey Volunteer of the Year for Broomall in 2019. That year, Terri joined forces with friends and fellow volunteers Maurita Scola and Robin Sheeran to make 50 gift baskets to raffle off at the luncheon! She estimates that this artistic trio has made more than 100 beautiful baskets to benefit Surrey over the years. One of Terri’s favorite things about volunteering at Surrey is the chance it offers to make people smile and lift the spirits of someone who may be feeling down: “If I’m a part of that, it makes me very happy.” Terri believes that the new Center for Healthy Living in Broomall is “an opportunity for us to really grow. There are a lot of new people coming. We’ve been spreading the word—you should come to Surrey!”