Making a Difference: Volunteering helps new resident get connected

No one could mistake Southern Arizona’s climate for that of the Florida Keys, but recent transplants Gary and Timber Friedman have found life in the Santa Cruz Valley just as enjoyable as in laid-back Key West.

The Friedmans moved to Quail Creek from Florida in early 2008, and Gary has delved wholeheartedly into volunteer work with several area groups.

He’s active in the Sahuarita Police Department’s Volunteers in Police Service program, known as VIPS, as well as the Arizona Rangers, Valle Verde Rotary Club and two Quail Creek groups.

While this 68-year-old former Cleveland resident had tried to retire in Florida and was determined to do so here, his wife was concerned he’d be bored and is happy to see him volunteering.

“She’s behind me 100 percent as long as I don’t forget my chores” at home, Gary says with a smile.

He got involved in VIPS shortly after he moved to Sahuarita and met neighbors Brian and Katie Biggs, who are VIPS members.

This program’s volunteers help the local police department by taking part in citizens’ patrols, learning about residents’ concerns at community meetings, and taking on clerical, data and document support work at SPD headquarters. They also support the department’s Sahuarita Explorer program for teens.

Gary spends one day per week in the SPD office and assists with crowd and traffic control at special town events.

“It’s something I really like, and a chance to give back,” Gary says, adding that VIPS has about 35 members “and we’re always interested in more.”

His love of Western history drew him to the Arizona Rangers, an unpaid, noncommissioned civilian auxiliary that assists and supports law enforcement in the state.

Gary has become a sergeant with the Tucson company, is the Rangers’ historian, and enjoys spending one Saturday a month staffing the Arizona Rangers museum in Nogales.

The group — with about 300 members overall and about 45 in its Tucson company — assists local police departments and raises funds for youth organizations, Gary says. He has helped with crowd control and parking at the Accenture PGA tournament in Marana, at the annual Fiesta Sahuarita, the spring carnival at Sahuarita High School, and at Reid Park in Tucson.

“I think it’s a neat thing to be a Ranger,” he says. “You truly give back to the community,” something that’s especially important when government agencies are facing budget cuts in an ailing economy.

Gary also was drawn to the Rotary Club because of all that its members do worldwide, such as raising money to build wells in Africa so communities there can have fresh water. Locally, the club contributes to the Community Food Bank of Green Valley and to a project to provide shoes for area youngsters in need.

“Rotary does great things for the community,” says Gary, who found a relaxed, fun atmosphere with the local Valle Verde Rotary Club and is now co-chairman of its fundraising arm, known as the Rotary Foundation.

At Quail Creek, he has become treasurer of the activities committee and started up a photography club that has attracted more than 30 members.

“I’ve been doing photography for years and years and years,” and just recently made the switch to a digital camera.

Whether he’s giving of his time with the Rotary to help people, or taking on a lay person’s job to free up Sahuarita police officers “to do the job they’re hired for,” Gary knows volunteering makes a difference.

“I truly believe in the community,” he says.

Making a Difference features folks who help make Sahuarita a great place to live. To recommend someone for this weekly series, call Karen Walenga at 547-9739, e-mail to kwalenga@gvnews.com or FAX to 625-1603.