Susan Ashley

Susan Ashley has been volunteering at Arlington Charities for seven years after her friend and fellow volunteer, Nicky, recommend that she join the volunteer team. For Susan, working in the pantry and helping clients is by far the best part of volunteering. She enjoys meeting the clients and asserts that everyone she meets is “really nice.” Susan’s favorite memory of volunteering actually comes from an interaction between two clients. One time, a Muslim woman was shopping and declined to take any meat for religious purposes. Rather than simply not taking any meat, she elected to give her meat to a man behind her so that he could have extra. These small moments of goodwill are a constant occurrence at Arlington Charities.

Outside of volunteering, Susan has practiced the art of basket weaving for forty years. She has attended over ten basket weaving conventions and has trained all over the world. Her beautiful pieces often combine a variety of materials, but she especially enjoys working with gourds. Susan now basketweaves full time and sells her wares on her website www.txweaver.com

Susan would “greatly recommend” volunteering to others. She emphasizes that things may seem a little overwhelming at first, but after you have volunteered a while, you quickly learn “everything that needs to be done.”