If ever there is a more committed and valued volunteer, Skip Colyer is it in Larimer County.
When the sunlight breaks over the morning sky, Skip is already at Samaritan House Fort Collins with staff collecting a week’s worth of food and cooking lunch for hungry residents. He is talented at finding nutritional food on a budget and is on hand to sort and prepare food with staff. He has such a knack for it, Skip is sometimes found showing new employees the ropes and filling in when staff is absent.
Every week staff see Skip’s smiling face ready to serve. He’s dedicated an impressive 825 hours of volunteer time over 9 years. This year he’s the “He Comes to Serve” award winner for his outstanding service.
“It’s humbling,” Skip says of winning the award. “You don’t do it forward awards. You do it for the satisfaction of helping someone else. The satisfaction of doing it is all I want. Other people are more deserving than me.”
Taking action to serve became Skip’s focus after reading about the importance of charitable work in James 2: “…faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”
Years of service feels like “a sense of accomplishment – that I’ve done something good for the community. There’s a lot of people there in need.”
During difficulties with COVID-19, Skip, who is retired, continued to volunteer weekly and complete necessary tasks. Everyone couldn’t be more grateful for his service with other parts of our mission, including Adopt-A-Family Christmas program. He has a big heart for vulnerable women and families in need of help and hope.
Without him, serving participants would not be the same. Join us in congratulating Skip for his outstanding volunteer work at Catholic Charities to serve our neighbors in great need.