Mankato woman started volunteering at 13... and hasn’t stopped since
By Bill Vossler
Margo Wheeler of Mankato grew up in a family of nine that valued volunteering in their little town of Humboldt, Minn., near the Canadian and North Dakota borders.
“I saw my family and others jumping in and helping people out, so that’s how I got my start. I played the organ in our small church, and as soon as I could, when I was 13, I started volunteering for the Ladies’ Aid. I cleaned community yards and did whatever we could to help them stay in their homes, because there was no other place for them to go in Humboldt if they couldn’t stay in their homes.”
Despite what some people might think, because she started volunteering so early, Margo was happy to volunteer.
“As the seventh of nine children, all who were outstanding people, it was fun getting recognition.”
After her father began planting sugar beets, he hired Hispanic migrant workers. “We volunteered to help them. We gave them rides and taught them how to live in our small community because it was all foreign to them,” she said.
At an early age, she joined 4-H, where they were expected to help people. “Like cleaning yards, and helping anyone who needed help in our small community. I liked the thanks I got back for the work that I did.”
In 4-H, she won a trip to the state fair. “There I volunteered to serve the workers, Boy Scouts, 4-H, Future Farmers of America, all of them that came to work at the state fair,” she said.
As a college music major and music librarian at Gustavus Adolphus, Margo said she learned to volunteer to provide students with extracurricular work.
“I volunteered my skills in our small church,” she said. “Every phase. I loved teaching religious education and other different ways to help in the church community. For each one I adapted myself to whatever the needs were for the survival of the organization. Our minister organized a child Christmas program that I took over when I was 17. I love using the gifts God gave me to give back to the church people in different ways.” After her move to Mankato, with the approval from religious elders, she set up a Christmas program that was repeated for seventeen years.
After teaching reading intervention for 17 years, Margo retired early. “I looked around for whatever volunteering I could do, including raising money for the Mankato Symphony, because so many of our talented people give back to the community by volunteering their time performing. I am also on the board and continue to promote the Mankato Symphony. I remember cleaning out a barn so we could have a barn dance and raise money for the symphony.”
Another type of volunteering Margo has promoted in the past few years is to practice hospitality. “I say to some people, ‘Come to my place and play cards. I’ll bring the bread and you bring something,’ and we get together and have a great time. That started with people I encountered at Vine Community Center when I was volunteering as a receptionist there. I started volunteering at Vine 10 years ago when it was new, and after my husband died. Being a receptionist helped me see many widows and widowers grieving, and I visited with them. Some were searching for what they could do now, and I told them to find what they really loved, and that’s what some did.”
Through Vine she has escorted occasional bus trips, plus a trip she escorted with Vine people in Portugal.
She has also volunteered as a pool monitor at Vine. “There are so many people who are physically challenged, with knees or hips or just age, but want to be active in the water. So they have to be watched, and if they need help, I know how to call the proper people. It helps me connect with people.”
She said volunteering in different areas can vary. “It depends on the age group differences, and a lot on the organization. I’ve worn a lot of hats in the community since we moved here in 1978. Each one has special qualities, and at times I’ve moved on in different directions. I guess I can get a little crotchety sometimes, but I try to listen so we can be helpful to one another in whatever volunteering I’m doing.”
Margo saw the need for activities in the evenings.
“So I started a book club and game night, and still coordinate the book reading group, with about 15 people each month. But more than reading a book, we also socialize and get to know each other. If you’re working hard in class, you don’t get to know people. To do that you have to have conversation and time to listen to their stories.”
Stories have also been told through a memoir class at Vine, Margo said. “People share each other’s stories, and two years ago they pooled their resources, made a book, and sold them, talking about their lives in the past in Mankato. It was well received.”
As Margo has gotten older, she sees her volunteering coming back to her. “Volunteers will help me around the house if I need it, mow grass at times, and there are volunteers in Mankato who provide that service free. Or I could pay for it, as we’re given information on how much the service might normally cost. But mostly I can do my own chores, but when others help me, I really feel like it does come around, and I always feel like I get more in return.”
No surprise that, as a former teacher, Margo began volunteering to teach classes after retirement. “I didn’t plan on volunteering when in my Christmas letter I listed that I walked three or more miles most days, so I began helping other people walk that same distance.”
Also, she volunteered with the Agency on Aging group and was trained to be a teacher on aging and balance.
“Thirty-six of us were trained to work with people who had issues with falling. That meant showing them simple exercises to keep them from tripping, like holding on to a chair and kicking your legs back, or doing chair yoga. Now that I’m no longer teaching balance, I’m taking those classes from the Agency on Aging in our area.”
Margo said, “The more I reach out with volunteering, the more other volunteers reach back. I’ve sat on benches and cheered soccer and football in chapters of my life and occasionally, I see people from those times that I haven’t seen for years. But then our kids graduated, and the work we did in school moved on to something else. But at times it is really wonderful to get reacquainted with some people from my past through other volunteering.”
What she’s discovered, Margo said, is that she needs people in her life. “After Covid and things opened up again, I realized how happy I was to see people again. Seeing them come out and do their things, I got to know more people.”
“I do have a lot of alone time -- reading, walking, spending time in nature by myself, listening to music, and I appreciate all those aspects of my life. But I’ve learned that I’m dependent on people in my life that maybe I can help or they can help me some way if I need it. I have a lot of gifts. And I’m thankful that I can live in such a nice home.”
An average day for Margo can be attending some classes in the Mankato area. “Today I took a Zoomba dance class, did chair yoga, did a class on stretching, and listened to a doctor who came in to give us information on how to prevent obesity. I also went to an Aqua Level 2 exercise class in water, and made it home for supper. So four or five days a week I’m either taking classes or volunteering. I love to be with people.”
These are the activities of a woman who absolutely loves to volunteer, has done it for years, and continues to do it in different venues in the Mankato area.
She said her advice to someone who wants to volunteer is to do something that you recognize you would like to do. There are so many opportunities out there to help people.”
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