Generous Hearts and Souls Volunteer Their Time Across Masonic Village

Volunteers contribute to Masonic Village in countless ways, enhancing care for residents and assisting staff with day-to-day tasks. For many, it’s also a way to give back to their communities and feel good about supporting neighbors and friends. Meet a few of these selfless individuals across the state.

SELLING SMILES

Resident Catherine Schneck has been running the Pennywise Thrift Store, operated from the ground floor of the Masonic Village at Lafayette Hill, since 2013. More than 12 years later, thanks to her efforts, the business is still going strong.

“It started out being a little bit of this, a little bit of that, with several ladies who were here helping me,” Catherine said. “It has gotten bigger and bigger over the years. I’m the only one left from the original crew. I like helping people. And the money brought in from the store benefits Masonic Village, so that’s rewarding.”

The thrift store, open twice a week, offers numerous items, from canes, clothing and shoes to dishes, lamp shades, seasonal/holiday items and even furniture. Catherine is assisted by a three-person team of volunteers: residents Mary Ellen Dougherty, Joan Meade and Mary Anne Patrick.

“People donate items, and I also have items of my own that I showcase,” Catherine said. “We sort items and put them on shelves. Everything usually sells for less than $5.”

The store is open from 2 – 3 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Thursdays are typically busier days because personal care and health care residents are escorted down with their aides to shop. “We get a big crowd,” Catherine said.

“We love it down here. It’s so much fun,” said Mary Anne. “Talking to other residents is the best. We have people who come in just to chat with us. We help them find what they need, and they are so grateful for the help.”

Families of residents often visit the store to help furnish their loved ones’ apartments on a budget. Catherine donates overflow items to non-profit organizations, such as the Whosoever Gospel Mission in Philadelphia, The Salvation Army and veterans’ groups. She also posts items online on Facebook Marketplace.

Ardith Jones, a resident who moved in last June, said she buys clothes and other items for people she knows, including herself.

“I really like it here,” she said. “It works out really well.”

DELIVERING HELP WHERE IT IS NEEDED

Prior to his mother’s passing in August 2024, Ron Pirioli saw firsthand the dedication of the staff and the exceptional quality of care and services provided at the Sturgeon Health Care Center.

“I was very happy with her care,” Ron (shown above with his dog, Maggie) said. “The doctors, nurses, aides and therapists all did great work.”
In appreciation of her care, Ron volunteers a few hours each week to help escort residents to the salon in the health care center. Now a Masonic Village at Sewickley resident himself, he’s happy to do it.

“It helps the nurses,” he said. “It’s a little thing. I enjoy talking to the residents. They enjoy seeing someone different visiting, and a lot of them remember me.”
Ron also saw an opportunity to volunteer delivering packages throughout the retirement living areas. As a part-time job he worked prior to his retirement, moving boxes was something he was used to doing, and he wanted to get some exercise while visiting with other residents. The holidays are an especially busy time. Sometimes, he helps residents assemble what they have delivered.

“Most residents are very grateful,” he said. “They’re nice and friendly, and there’s a lot of interesting people here. I get to know them a little bit this way, too. I don’t want to just sit around. I want to stay active. I have plenty to do here, and there are a lot of people who could use a hand. I don’t mind helping someone who is appreciative. There are plenty of volunteer opportunities if you keep your eyes open.”

In addition to volunteer opportunities on campus (including for teens age 13 and older), Masonic Village at Sewickley organizes a monthly trip to Global Links, an organization that connects surplus medical supplies from U.S. hospitals and healthcare facilities to public health systems. Volunteers help gather and package the supplies for distribution.

BETTER TO GIVE THAN RECEIVE

Nina and Alan Kerner always knew they wanted to move to a retirement community in the northeast. After living on Long Island, New York, all their lives, they had always enjoyed spending their leisure time in Pennsylvania. They moved to Masonic Village at Dallas in 2023 for its beauty and carefree living, as well as the many opportunities for Nina to continue volunteering.

“This was a lovely place to begin our retirement years,” Nina said. “It has truly become home. When we first arrived, I knew that I wanted to get involved in various activities, so I could meet people within the community and find out more about my new surroundings. We have made new friends and have been welcomed into this community with open arms.”

Soon after she arrived, Nina volunteered as co-chair of the Social Committee at Masonic Village and was also elected to the Executive Committee for a two-year term. She served as vice president in 2024 and president in 2025, with her term concluding the end of November.

Nina enjoys public speaking and has served as emcee twice for Masonic Village’s annual community Veterans Day program and community Christmas party. She is also an officer with the Dallas Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star (OES).

“We serve our community by helping with blood drives, feeding the homeless and donating food and many other items to local families and our veteran groups,” she said of her OES chapter.

During her career in the insurance industry and as a member of the Insurance Professionals of Long Island, Nina helped raised several thousand dollars over the years for local charities, such as breast cancer research, Special Olympics, a domestic violence safe home and Toys for Tots.

“It is important to volunteer in the community if you can because it makes you feel so good to help others, to make them smile and offer a part of yourself to help another person,” she said. “I truly believe that it is indeed better to give than to receive.”

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Blaine and Crystal Fray, and their daughter, Mady, have all found their calling in work and/or in volunteering at Masonic Village at Elizabethtown. They’ve been volunteering, together and individually, for about a year in the Masonic Health Care Center. Crystal also works as a cook’s helper at the Clubhouse Restaurant.

As a child, Blaine remembers helping his mom in the kitchen and his grandma in the garden, being an extra set of hands when needed. In high school, he served as a peer mediator, assisting fellow classmates with working through difficult situations.

This passion for service and supporting others has continued throughout his life and led him to want to help in a more professional way. He is currently studying Family and Human Services online through Brigham Young University.

“I have hopes to find a place to utilize my maturing skills and degree to be a support to others within Masonic Village in the future,” he said.

At Masonic Village, Blaine helps pass out ice bi-weekly and visits residents in the Roosevelt 3 and 4 and personal care neighborhoods weekly. He has also attended meetings of the Men’s Group. On the 2nd Tuesday of each month, he and Crystal join the Veterans Group in the Roosevelt Assembly Room. They hand out coffee and donuts and have delightful conversations.

“We really love when they share their going home stories,” he said.

Crystal, Mady and Blaine (shown right, l-r) all assist with bi-monthly bingo, greeting residents, handing out cards, helping residents find seats and verifying when someone has “bingo.”

Crystal spends much of her time visiting with residents on the Washington 2 and Roosevelt 2 neighborhoods, playing games, taking walks and just listening to stories they share. Mady volunteers with group activities and visits with residents. She also helps transport residents to events and appointments.

For Mady, getting to hear the stories from the residents has been the highlight.

“They have such wonderful life stories,” she said. “I have also worked on how to communicate with others on a personal level, sharing my life as they do. I enjoy helping others, and Masonic Village has great opportunities to do so, alongside the great learning opportunities I have. I feel I have learned how to talk with others better and strengthened my time management skills.”

Mady is soon to be a graduate of Donegal High School and their Career and Technology Center’s Nursing Assistant and Elder Care programs. Inspired by her time at Masonic Village, she hopes to find a place to further her skills and serve others on her journey to becoming a mortician.

Crystal appreciates being the ear and heart that some residents need.

“It warms my heart when I visit with residents who don’t have family who live close and visit regularly, and they brighten up when I walk in their room,” she said. “I feel that I have a purpose when I volunteer. I’ve learned to enjoy every day because life happens quickly. I have the mindset that what you put out will always come back to you. I didn’t know I could get so much fulfillment in a few hours a week.”

While fulfilling his desire to serve others, Blaine appreciates that volunteering at Masonic Village gives him an opportunity to offer a friendly hello and a warm smile.

“I enjoy being what others may be in need of,” he said. “I love being able to remind the residents and staff that they are more than their circumstances. Each person has a purpose. They are wanted, needed and loved.

“I am learning to see and hear with my heart as I am volunteering and serving the residents and helping the staff. This is the example that I see from the staff and residents towards each other. Patience, kindness, understanding, love and even forgiveness are on constant display.”

Blaine and Crystal’s son, Aiden, and soon-to-be daughter-in- law, Alexis Mentzer, also work at Masonic Village. Aiden is a cook in the Restaurants at Grand Lodge, and Alexis works at Franklin’s Press and will soon join the Masonic Village Pharmacy full-time. Aiden has seen first-hand how volunteering has positively impacted his family.

“I have seen an increase in the joy that my mom, sister and dad have had as they’ve been volunteering over the past year,” he said. “When I ask how their day was, I can see a brightness in them when they share about their time volunteering.”

“Masonic Village offers a safe environment to grow and mature as a person,” Blaine said. “As with my family, they welcome not just the individual but the whole family to be of service and volunteer. The growing that happens within a family who does service and volunteering together has, in my experience, led to closer, stronger, deeper relationships.”

Whatever capacity they serve in, all volunteers have similar potential to make a big difference.

“I truly believe that we can all make a difference in this world, no matter how big or small the gesture,” Nina Kerner said. “Random acts of kindness are so special. Saying good morning to a stranger with a smile, checking on a neighbor, helping someone in any small way – it all matters. As seniors, we have so much to offer in this life.”

For more information on volunteer opportunities at Masonic Village, visit our Volunteers page.