As I sat at my computer thinking of why I volunteer, all the standard reasons came to mind.

I want to help people.

The need is there and someone needs to step up and do it, so why not me?

It’s a way to keep active, especially for someone my age at 62.

These reasons all apply, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized these are not the reasons I do it.

I do come from a tradition of volunteering. My mother was a volunteer. She was very active in Girl Scouts and as a teen and young adult; I became a volunteer with her. She was active in other areas as well, but I was already hooked.

I have been active in some organization or other almost my entire adult life and currently am active in more than one organization. Even that, though, is not the true reason I volunteer.

I believe in my heart that this is something that God has called me to do. He has given me skills to use and expects me to use them. He has always guided me and provided for my volunteer efforts, and I have been blessed in incredible ways through the work he has given me to do.

That is why I volunteer.

Janice Swope, 62, a New Castle native, moved to Portersville in 1973 and has lived there ever since with her husband, David Sr. She graduated from Slippery Rock College in 1971 with a degree in elementary education. She taught fifth and sixth grade at Kennedy Elementary in New Castle until 1984 when she retired to take care of her handicapped daughter. She has three grown children: David Jr. of Delaware; Dion, who lives in northern Pennsylvania; and Robin, at home; and four grandchildren.

Swope is a member of Zion Baptist Church and active in Community Care Connections, Special Olympics Lawrence County, American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware, and the Church Leadership Institute.