There’s a saying that many hands make light work and that was evident as the local Salvation Army honored the many volunteers who work to further their mission in the community.

Sid Furst, who was honored as an outstanding volunteer for the many hours he spends supervising and working at the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Garden and Urban Farm, commented that the non-profit is “blessed by having lots of volunteers,” and particularly those who work at the garden.

“We appreciate everyone who comes out, not only in terms of corporate groups, but also nonprofit groups and individuals,” he said, noting that in the last few weeks about 50 volunteers logged approximately 150 hours preparing the garden for the upcoming growing season.

“I’m always fascinated by the word volunteer and I hear the sense of volunteer as a labor thing,” Furst said.

“The base word comes from Latin and Greek and volunteer means the will to choose…That’s what volunteering is all about,” he said.

“We all look at what we can do, either by labor or by donation or by whatever spiritual support and we exercise our will to choose,” he added.

In presenting the award to Furst, Major Sheryl Hershey pointed out that since the garden began on land donated by UPMC on Park Avenue, it has expanded to 40,000 square feet.

“We thought we would recognize Sid this year as an outstanding volunteer because we don’t pay him, he does it hours and hours and hours beyond belief to keep our garden up and running,” Hershey said.

For her work as a volunteer at the garden, Friederike Bauer received the Community Garden and Urban Farm Award at the event.

Others receiving awards for their volunteer contributions included those for: bell ringing, Horizon Federal Credit Union and Moose Lodge 145; community partner awards, FedEx Ground, Muncy, JanWay Company; Genetti Hotel & Suites, Backyard Broadcasting, City of Williamsport, Helminiak’s Greenhouse and Landscaping, and Central Pennsylvania Food Bank; outstanding counter kettle partner, Dollar General; outstanding red kettle partner Christmas breakfast, The Young Industries; outstanding red kettle partners, M&T and Journey banks; outstanding food drive partners, Lycoming Valley Intermediate and Central Elementary schools; best of the Festival of Trees, Kent A. Bennett & Associates, Inc.; Festival of Trees people’s choice for trees, Wyrope Williamsport Federal Credit Union; Festival of Trees for wreaths, McNerney, Page, Vanderlin & Hall; Festival of Trees people’s choice for wreaths, Public ARTWORKS, a committee of Lycoming Arts; outstanding volunteers, Furst, Rose Confer, Lakisha Graham and Judi Barnett; Timothy Heffler memorial awards, Laura Gair and Dick Miller; and the “Doing Most Good” recognition, Kent A. Bennett and the late Clara F. Bennett.

During the luncheon, Dan Watson, chairman of the comprehensive campaign, shared that rising costs have forced the Salvation Army to launch a fund drive.

“I think it shouldn’t come as any surprise over the last five to seven years the price of everything has increased,” Watson said.

In order to offer the services that it does to the community, Watson said that In the next five years the Salvation Army will need to increase their annual giving by approximately $150,000 just to basically maintain the current services.

“Obviously we want to continue that and hopefully increase a few of those services that there seems to be a demand for in this community,” Watson added.