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National Volunteer Month 2024: LMI Volunteer Spotlight

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility

In celebration of National Volunteer Month, we are highlighting our employees’ important work in their communities.

Maria Noble: Global Teen Challenge (Adult and Teen Challenge) Addiction Recovery

The Global Teen Challenge (Adult and Teen Challenge) offers faith-based drug and rehabilitation at centers around the world.

In 2022, the Global Teen Challenge (Adult and Teen Challenge) had more than 1,400 accommodation centers in 129 countries around the world. The challenge provides separate centers for men, women, teenagers, and now facilities for women with children. Clients live on the premises for one year.

My husband and I have been ministering at the women’s facility in Alvin, Texas, for a few years. We teach a message of hope, faith, and trust for victory over addiction, restoring lives and family relationships. My husband is 14 years sober himself.

It’s heart-wrenching to watch people in pain, whether it is self-inflicted or caused by others. Many addictions take over our lives as people try to deal with pain or make tough choices. For us, the most rewarding thing is helping someone get a second chance. Through encouragement and mentoring, we let the clients know that they are not alone. Sometimes people need a third or fourth chance, but we pray for their victory!

Pictured is our Christmas celebration from last year with the facility’s found family. We hope this Christmas is the one that marks the change in the rest of their lives!

Learn more about the Global Teen Challenge (Adult and Teen Challenge).

“The most rewarding thing is helping someone get a second chance. Through encouragement and mentoring, we let the clients know that they are not alone!”

Christmas celebration with the Global Teen Challenge (Adult and Teen Challenge)

Delta Pelgrim: Railroad Preservation

I volunteer with multiple railroad preservation organizations, such as the Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) and the Fort Wayne Historical Society. Yes, I live in Pennsylvania but drive to Goshen, VA, or Ft. Wayne, IN, to volunteer. For VMT, in 2023, I was the excursion manager for 6 weeks in the fall. The first week was a test run and 5 weeks were public excursions. For 650 people on each 3 1/2-hour, steam engine trip with 11 train cars and 30 volunteers for 3 days a week, I oversaw everything from food, volunteer recruitment, and training to passenger safety, releasing the train to the railroad, and human Tetris (getting 650 people onto the train when it does not quite fit that many). Without me, the train would not have had volunteers, food, or uniforms, nor would it have onboarded and disembark safely—we had zero Federal Railroad Administration violations. It was exhausting and fabulous; I absolutely loved it! (And they let me drive a utility vehicle!)

For Ft. Wayne, I work in merchandise sales. I help the historical society sell, on average, $10,000 worth of stuff during each of my volunteer weekends, or about $20 per passenger. While this experience is not quite as rewarding as the VMT excursions, my 10-person team brings in the second highest amount of money to the organization (behind ticket sales) despite being the smallest team!