12 Mar A Rose by Any Other Name

Rose first volunteered at Goodwill’s BookWorks program in 2017–at the tender age of 89. She’d retired from her career as a secretary at the age of 80 and jumped wholeheartedly into a second career of community service and volunteering.

Rose gives her time to her neighbors by serving on her condo board and supports St. Vincent DePaul and Light of Christ as well as Goodwill in Clearwater.

She initially began volunteering at her local Goodwill with a group of friends; they were drawn to the BookWorks mission of providing free books to kids and have been so successful at cleaning and sorting donated books that they were recognized as the “Volunteer Group of the Year” at the local 2018 annual BookWorks luncheon! Rose gives a semi-mischievous grin when she jokingly refers to her volunteerism as “working with dirty books.”

Through the decades, Rose has experienced her own share of disappointments, but her spirits are high and she counts her blessings: Son Terry, happily married and residing in California, and her two adult grandchildren, one in California and one in Australia, call daily and make regular visits.

When asked to share her secret to a long, well-lived life, she says, “Take care of yourself, walk and spend time with friends.” Rose herself says long lunches, prayer circles and church retreats and the Goodwill BookWorks sorting room are her venues of choice for camaraderie and time well spent.

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