We have always believed volunteers are the backbone of a successful and progressive community.

No matter if that community is a business, a neighborhood or a service or organization, if you have a good group of volunteers instilled with a passion and a desire to improve their community, it will be successful.

For 30 years Martha Taylor, who recently retired from the Newton Medical Center as Director of Volunteer Services, nurtured such a volunteer group.

She started her career as marketing director of the local hospital and saw a need for a strong volunteer force to help the local nonprofit better serve its patients. She felt the volunteer force could better its community by helping to raise funds so the hospital could purchase equipment that would help it stay on the cutting edge medical technology, saving many lives through those efforts

She accomplished just that, raising more than $2.7 million and building her volunteer force from a handful to 250 strong, during her tenure as the volunteer service director.

People with characteristics like Martha Taylor are what make a community strong and progressive. We appreciate her efforts and wish for her a great new life.

We can’t help but think, knowing her personality, that soon she will be back volunteering her services for the good of our community.