Want to have fun while doing good? Sunburst Races need more volunteers

By the time she retired after 23 years as a registered nurse and critical care case manager at Elkhart General Hospital, Joyce Hislope had become a vital part of the hospital’s care team.

Noel and Joyce Hislope

For the past five years since then, Hislope said she and her husband, Noel, have been greeted and treated like “VIPs” each summer in another way – as Sunburst Races volunteers.

They feel good about helping to raise money for Beacon Children’s Hospital, specifically its Child Life and Creative Services Program, where Child Life Specialists help reduce stress and anxiety that children and families experience.

But the couple also simply enjoy themselves.

“We can’t say it loud enough: Come join the fun!” Hislope said. “You will have a great time and you get a volunteer shirt that you can proudly wear.”

More volunteers are needed to safely and successfully carry out this year’s 38th annual races June 4. Hislope said she would encourage anyone to volunteer.

“There are so many ways to help,” she said. “It is easy to find a spot that fits your time, schedule and interest. No special skills are needed, just a desire and a willingness to help.”

Volunteers can choose from three categories: pre-race, race day and water stop teams, and there are many options within those. For example, a critical pre-race function is “bag stuffing,” in which volunteers bag up the shirt, bib, safety pins and fliers that participants pick up the day before the event.

If you’d like to volunteer, you are invited to a bag stuffing event May 17, a Tuesday, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Beacon Central Office, 3245 Health Drive in Granger. Volunteers will receive a free shirt and dinner.

Other critical volunteer needs include being a course marshal, working the finish line, or sweeping the course. Still looking for other ways to help? Here are several other great volunteer opportunities.