(above: Lolita Pizarro, June Volunteer of the Month)
Lolita Pizarro recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary of volunteering in our offices. She started working in the Volunteer Services department on March 17, 2009: “I remember the date because I had to enter it into the computer,” she said.
Lolita is an administrative volunteer who donates her time 3-4 days a week logging and recording the hours contributed by other volunteers. Before our construction sites switched to electronic sign-ins, Lolita dutifully recorded the names and hours of every volunteer who came out to build with us, as well as ReStore volunteers.
“Working with Lolita over the past 7 years has been a blast! Not only is she a guru when it comes to data entry, but she also makes one mean banana bread,” said Caitlin Rose, Habitat LA Associate Director of Volunteer Services. “Lolita has become a surrogate grandma to many of us and if you know her well…you know that she goes by the name Grandma Lee!”
A native of Oahu, Hawaii, Lolita came to the mainland more than 50 years ago to work for the federal government. She spent 40 years working for the government before retiring for the first time, but she was persuaded to go back to work for another five years. Over her 45 years in government service, Lolita traveled all over the world: “Europe, the Middle East, South Korea for three years one time and two years another time,” she said.
She began her second retirement thinking she might like to help on our construction sites, but she decided that it wasn’t feasible at her age. But when she saw a notice that we were looking for administrative support, she knew she had found the right place for her skills.
Lolita says she looks forward to every day she spends at our offices. “It makes me happy knowing that what I’m doing is helpful to families who are in need of homes.”
Volunteers just like Lolita, are the heart of Habitat LA. We offer volunteer opportunities in construction, non-construction and our Habitat LA ReStores. Interested in learning more about volunteer opportunities? Contact Caitlin Rose, Associate Director of Volunteer Services.