(Posted 2022 November)
Community event requests continue to roll in and Volunteer Solutions (VS) has participated in many fairs during 2022. The events often last several hours (sometimes split into shifts) and it’s helpful to have the assistance of our community outreach volunteers. This year, one such volunteer, Kay Croll, has been actively involved in several of these, including two of the October fairs- Healthy Together Fairfax at Lee District Center and the Beacon 50+ Expo at Springfield Town Center. We appreciate that Kay is friendly and enjoys engaging with the public. We decided to learn more about who she is and how she arrived here.
Kay was born in Pittsburg, PA, and grew up with four sisters and one brother (who tragically died at the age of 21.) Their family moved to Houston, Texas, when she was seven. She graduated from the University of Houston and was commissioned in 1962 in the Marine Corps. She became a captain and worked with computers, which is particularly fascinating since it was the 1960s.
She met and married Robert, a fellow Marine, while they were in the service. When he returned from Vietnam, they started their family. Kay left the Marine Corps in 1969, which is when their daughter, Roberta, was born. Eighteen months later, their son, Leon, was born.
When Robert retired, they moved to West Chester, PA. In 2012, he passed away. In 2019, Kay moved to Springfield, VA, to be closer to Roberta and her two teenaged grandchildren. Leon lives in San Diego.
Kay has a long history of volunteering. Prior to registering with Volunteer Solutions in early 2020, she was a volunteer in the Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, and now, at the D.C. VA. Between the two, she’s logged an impressive 2800 hours! She taught computer classes and helped underemployed and homeless veterans prepare resumes and do job searches. In 2018, she was presented with the Coatesville VA award for “Volunteer of the Year.”
In Virginia, aside from helping Volunteer Solutions, she’s been volunteering under the auspices of the American Legion as a Veterans’ Service Officer (VSO), assisting veterans with their VA claims two days per week. Kay had to take and pass an online class for that role. She’s also a Sergeant-at-Arms at the Springfield American Legion Post, volunteers at her church, and collects food for a local philanthropic group. In her limited spare time, Kay enjoys reading and maintaining her garden.
Volunteer Solutions is grateful to have Kay’s assistance during community events, especially considering how busy she is in her other roles. If you are interested in becoming an outreach volunteer, please email Tanya Erway at Tanya.Erway@FairfaxCounty.gov.
This article is part of the Department of Family Services Older Adults Volunteer Solutions Caring Community Updates e-news – providing a variety of updates and articles about our volunteers in action. Learn more about Volunteer Solutions.