Chaffee teacher quick to praise 94-year-old RSVP volunteer

If a proper role model is sought for April as National Volunteer Month, Eloise Moore would be a good candidate.

The 94-year-old enjoys spending time at Chaffee Elementary School as a volunteer for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program, the work she has performed without pay since 1973.

"It is the joy of my life. It's really relaxation for me," Moore said.

She knows that by helping teachers, time is freed up for them to spend more of it with the children. The time that first-grade teacher Karen Bradshaw would otherwise spend grading, recording and sorting papers and cutting out items for the monthly bulletin board is shortened thanks to Moore's help.

"Her love for the school and the children is apparent," Bradshaw said. "Although she doesn't have a lot of interaction with the children, they miss her and ask about her when she's not there."

Moore began volunteering for RSVP at the Chaffee Nutrition Center.

"Later I was placed on a trial basis to work up at the school, and up until this year I volunteered five and a half hours a day, five days a week," she said. "Now I work only three hours a day. The school thought there was not as much to do as before."

RSVP/VIC (Volunteer Intergenerational Center) registers and places individuals of all ages in volunteer positions. Individuals interested in volunteering may call 335-7555.