Brenda Nester and Family Service are meant to be.
After losing her husband and retiring from a 28-year-long career at James Madison University’s Foundation, Brenda moved to Roanoke and knew she wanted to volunteer doing something meaningful.
She might not have known that meant doing something she had been doing much of her career. But, Brenda did know it meant finding an organization she believed in and working with people who appreciated her skills and inspiration for life.
She’d been in Gift Processing and Database Management for years, and retired as director of her department. She didn’t want responsibility. She didn’t want people reporting to her. She just wanted to make a difference.
At that exact moment, we were looking for someone to help clean up and keep up with our donor database system. We turned to our partners at Hands On Blue Ridge, where Brenda had already started looking for how she would be able to impact her new home community.
She found Family Service and has made herself an indispensable member of our team.
Brenda found her office home at Family Service, and has been sharing her bright smile and caring personality with our team for two and a half years! She does a lot of those behind-the-scenes tasks that keep us in the business of helping our neighbors, including database management and financial data entry.
In her retirement, Brenda enjoys going to the theater, visiting her sister, shopping, organizing and helping her church. She’s a committed family member and takes time to visit and take care of people throughout the week. She also takes care of her two adorable cats (or do they take care of her?).
Her favorite quote comes from Greek fabulist and storyteller, Aesop, “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”
Thank you, Brenda, for kindly volunteering your time each week to Restoring Hope in our community.
