Lori has been a volunteer at the Activity Center since meeting Jamie at the 2021 Quilt Show.  
“I started out working the front desk one day a week, and then started helping with special events,” said Lori. “The Rhubarb Festival was my first big event, and I was the volunteer coordinator, which was a real challenge since we had just moved to La Pine and I didn’t know anyone. But it was a great chance to meet people in this community!”
Lori and her husband Jerry moved here in April of 2021 from the Rogue Valley.  
“We’ve had friends with property here and we came to visit them during the summers, and my husband said he wanted to retire here.  So when it came time to retire, we sold everything, bought a fifth wheel, and then Covid hit. I had wanted to retire to the coast, but we realized we couldn’t leave the fifth wheel there permanently because of the harsh weather. So we wound up moving here and are currently waiting on permits to get a house started.”
In her “before life”, Lori spent 15 years doing child care and then was director of a preschool when her kids were in high school.  “I did that for eight years but missed having my business at home, so I opened a daycare in my home and did that until we moved here.  It took me four years to retire because my families wanted me to finish taking care of their children,” said Lori.
“My husband, Jerry, was a mill-worker with Boise Cascade and retired after working in the mills for 30 plus years.”
So what does Lori like best about volunteering?  
“The other volunteers!  Everybody is so wonderful here… these people are amazing, willing and it’s helped me get into this community and get to know people,” Lori replied.
Recently Lori took a job cleaning the kitchen and restrooms at the Activity Center a couple days a week .
“I don’t like to clean, but those women in the kitchen work so hard and do such a great job, I feel rewarded helping them out,” said Lori.
Lori’s husband Jerry is always volunteering at the Center as well; he was up on the roof putting on Christmas lights recently!
“Jamie just gives so much to this center and this community, it makes it a pleasure to volunteer there,” said Lori. “If anyone out there is interested in joining us, call the Center — it’s for everybody, not just seniors!  And come for lunch, it’s fantastic food!”