We love our volunteers

After retiring from her nursing career, Karen sought a volunteer opportunity that would fulfill the caregiver in her, and a serendipitous online search led her to NewView Oklahoma.

“What spoke to me about this organization is that I was the primary caregiver for my father in his later years, and he had severe macular degeneration. When you’re closely associated with someone with that eye disease, you get a first-hand experience of what it’s like to struggle with barely being able to see,” Karen said. “Now I feel like I’m able to make an impact on others’ lives while also honoring my father’s memory.”

Karen has helped in NewView’s Creative Visions program, which helps people who are blind and visually impaired create art through photos, ceramics and knitting.

“Volunteering has been very fulfilling. And after I got to know these wonderful people, I’ve developed friendships, so I really feel like they are my friends now.”

She particularly enjoyed helping during a ceramics class taught at the Oklahoma Museum of Art.

“It was very, very tactile, and touch is so much of how these individuals perceive things. And then to be able to create with their own hands was incredible,” Karen said. “On top of that, we had a real instructor, so they were getting a real art education. It was just fabulous.”

Thank you, Karen, for your dedication and for honoring your father’s memory with your generous work!