Volunteering is a simple way to improve your health, ease feelings of loneliness and broaden social networks. Nature lover and Lemon Bay Conservancy Wildflower Preserve’s volunteer chair, Lucia Schattleleyn, is a lifelong volunteer and considered by those who know her well as an expert on the subject. Three in five Americans surveyed in a recent polling report felt lonely. Researchers attributed these findings to a variety of factors, including a lack of social support, infrequent meaningful social interactions, poor physical and mental health, and an imbalance in daily activities. Furthermore, studies show that volunteering not only helps people feel less lonely, it can also improve physical well-being.
Loneliness often times stems from unwanted solitude. A potential cure? Kindness toward others and our environment. Opportunities to give back are becoming more readily available than they were last year, and the need for volunteers steadily continues to grow. “Volunteering is one of the best, most certain ways that we can find purpose and meaning in our life,” shares Lemon Bay Conservancy member Marian Schneider.

In the spring of 2020, as the Johann Fust Library Foundation began to plan for the next season, Board Member and Clevelander Deb Nash was enthusiastic about a 2019 documentary that she wanted to share with the Boca Grande community called “Playing with Fire: Jeannette Sorrell and the Mysteries of Conducting.”
The film, directed by two-time academy award winner Allan Miller, tells the story of the Grammy-winning artistic director and founder of Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. Deb Nash and her late husband Les were passionate supporters of Apollo’s Fire.
Next week, the Boca Grande community will have a chance to see why when the documentary is shown at the Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium.