Retired Senior Volunteer Program plays a vital role in Deming and Luna County

Bill Armendariz, Deming Headlight
·4 min read
Volunteers Judith Welch (standing) and Susan Schiffner volunteer at the Deming Art Center.
Volunteers Judith Welch (standing) and Susan Schiffner volunteer at the Deming Art Center.
The Retired Senior Volunteer Program staff at the Deming Art Center includes, standing from left, Susan Schiffner, Peggy Westenhofer, Judith Welch, Nancy Costa and Diane Hudgens. Seated from left are Marilyn Goble, Anne Chrestman, Rosemarie Lynch, and Valda Irish.
The Retired Senior Volunteer Program staff at the Deming Art Center includes, standing from left, Susan Schiffner, Peggy Westenhofer, Judith Welch, Nancy Costa and Diane Hudgens. Seated from left are Marilyn Goble, Anne Chrestman, Rosemarie Lynch, and Valda Irish.

DEMING – Visitors to the Deming Art Center at 100 S. Gold Street are greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable staff, thanks in part to the Retired Senior Volunteer Program at the Deming Senior Citizen’s Center. The senior center provides volunteers for the Deming Art Council to work at the art center six days a week. The DAC is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the heart of downtown Deming.

Marilyn Goble doubles as the president of the Deming Art Council and volunteer. “My involvement with the RSV Program here at the center was a no-brainer,” Goble says. “The volunteer staff here at the art center brings experience in the arts and we make sure that they are in tune with the many exhibits we have during the course of the year.”

Goble is an Iowa transplant who moved to the warmer and dry climate of southwestern New Mexico. She has been a part of the art council and RSV Program for the past eight years.

“The art center has grown during my time here,” Goble said. “The art community in Luna County is very talented and diverse. I would like to see more performing arts in the county. Some younger people need to become more involved in the art community. We need to see some new blood take an interest.”

The DAC displays a different themed exhibit each month. Twelve volunteers work in two shifts – morning and afternoon – greeting visitors and helping maintain the displays. The DAC has the main gallery room, a gift shop/bookstore, and a meeting room. Each volunteer is responsible for service in those areas.

“We like to think our RSV Program provides a much-needed service to the community. They volunteer at 10 different stations in town and are paid a mileage reimbursement at the end of each month for daily travel from home to the station sites,” said RSVP Director Alexandra Acosta-Cordova at the senior center.

Requirements for RSVP are volunteers must be retired and 55 or older. That’s it. They can register with Acosta-Cordova at the senior center, 800 S. Granite Street. “Typically, we have about 152 seniors involved in the RSV Program. Due to the COVID pandemic that number is at around 78 volunteers,” Acosta-Cordova said.

The 10 stations in the program now serving the community are:

• Deming Art Center

• Silver Linings Thrift Store and Resource Center

• Transforming Luna County

• Custom House

• Deming-Luna-Mimbres Museum

• Mimbres Memorial Nursing Home

• Cancer Support of Deming and Luna County Inc.

• Helping Hand Inc.

• Deming Senior Citizen’s Center

• Columbus Historical Society

Judy Welch has been a board member with the art council for over 20 years and has volunteered at the DAC ever since. She manages the gift shop and moved to Deming from Colorado in 1999. She is familiar with the local art scene and creates beautiful gourd work. “My husband and I sold Native American drums in Colorado. He did the drums and I decorated them,” Welch said.

Judy’s husband died three years ago, and she began taking her volunteer work to heart. “It saved me,” Welch said. “It gave me a new direction in my life and helped me through a tough time.”

Goble has seen a growth in participation and many upgrades to the historic building that is also listed on the state register for historic landmarks. The Council supports the center through fundraising events, private donations, estate sales and Luna County and New Mexico grants.

Susan Schiffner is a veteran of the RSV Program. She volunteered at the senior center for seven years before moving to the art center since 2017. A Minnesota transplant, Susan lends her artistic talent by decorating and painting gourds.

Some in the community may remember Susan from the old Big Kmart. She managed at the store and retired from retail. Upon retirement, Susan and her husband visited the senior center for lunch one day and she was hooked.

“I began as a runner for the home delivered meals program. I got to see a lot of my customers from the old Kmart and we would exchange hugs and stories every lunch hour,” Susan recalled.

There is a deep attachment from the senior center’s Retired Senior Volunteer Program and the community it serves. “The familiar faces leave a warm impression wherever these volunteers help out,” Acosta-Cordova said. “It’s heartwarming to know that they provide more than just a physical service and presence to the community.”

Obviously, the coronavirus pandemic has had an impact in the RSVP, but the senior center program carries on with the volunteers at hand.

If you would like more information on the RSVP, contact Alexandra Acosta-Cordova at 575-546-8823.

Bill Armendariz can be reached at 575-546-2611 (leave a message) or biarmendariz@demingheadlight.com.

This article originally appeared on Deming Headlight: Retired Senior Volunteer Program serves Deming and Luna County