Polly Sauer (right), president of the Women’s Club of Lake Arrowhead, presented Geri Quintero with flowers to honor the number of hours she volunteered at the Mountain Thrift Shoppe. (Photo by Mary-Justine Lanyon)

Women’s Club honors one of its own

By Mary-Justine Lanyon

At their December 21 meeting, several members of the Women’s Club of Lake Arrowhead shared about causes that are important to them.
Treasurer Emily Reynolds said that, for her, it is Scots Lodge at Rim of the World High School. “When I’m not donating to the Mountain Thrift Shoppe, I donate to Scots Lodge,” she said.
Michelle, a brain tumor survivor, said her cause is the National Brain Tumor Society. In 2022, she noted, 700,000 people were diagnosed with brain tumors, many of them benign. Many of those people were women over 60. “If you are having issues with your balance,” she said, “get it checked.”
The highlight of the meeting was the recognition of member Geri Quintero, who is one of the club’s members who volunteer at the Mountain Thrift Shoppe. The club is compensated for the hours the volunteers “work” at the shop.
President Polly Sauer presented Quintero with a large bouquet of flowers for having donated the most hours from December 1, 2021, to November 30, 2022. Quintero worked 279 out of the total 737 hours members put in at the thrift store.
The Women’s Club budgets $10,000 to be earned by their volunteerism; Quintero accounted for $4,100 of that total.
Quintero, who volunteers on Tuesdays and Thursdays, likes that she gets to meet a lot of people in the community.
“There are a lot of regulars,” she said. “They know me and I know them by name.” She has been volunteering at the thrift store for about four years.
At the shop she will act as cashier, work out on the floor, “whatever they want me to do,” Quintero said.