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Mark Mulligan / The Herald (click to enlarge)
Catholic Community Services volunteer Doug Dahlen chops wood in front of his home in Marysville on Wednesday afternoon.


Marysville man's help comes naturally

He was challenged to make a difference, so he did

By Justin Arnold
Herald Writer

MARYSVILLE -- It was early, the sun was just coming up and there was work to be done -- even if he didn't work there.

Doug Dahlen shrugged on an old jacket, got into his red Ford F-150 pickup and began his drive to Stanwood.

Then he took up an ax and cut firewood for a disabled woman who relies on a wood stove for heat. That's what he did for an hour, in the cold with nothing to keep him company but his own thoughts and the steady thump and crack of splitting wood.

When he was done, he said a few words to the client and drove home. His work was done.

Dahlen, 54, is a volunteer for Catholic Community Services and helps those who could use a hand around the house -- moving furniture, mowing lawns, cutting wood, delivering food to people with AIDS. Some are shut-ins.

Sometimes he has help, but for the most part it's just Dahlen. He's worked at a food manufacturing plant for 24 years as a technician repairing production machinery. He didn't really give a thought to volunteering until he went to Everett Community College in 1998 and took a sociology class. There was an assignment that challenged him to go out and make a difference.

So he did.

"I opened the phone book and found Catholic Community Services. They found work that I could do and introduced me to Andy," Dahlen said.

Andy had a family and was suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease. He couldn't mow his lawn, so Dahlen did it for him.

The class ended, but Dahlen continued to volunteer for work that was, by most people's standards, physically taxing. It's work that must get done for people who can't do it themselves, said Paulette Jacobson of Catholic Community Services in Everett.

"Doug's a great guy and gets a lot done," Jacobson said.

Dahlen works with a group of retired Boeing workers on occasion to help them move people from one home to another. It's tough and sometimes can be off-putting for a new volunteer to go into a really dirty house that hasn't been cleaned in months with nothing packed and ready to go.

"It happens sometimes," he said. "But that's not the worst. What gets me are hide-a-beds. Too heavy and usually flop open when you least expect it."

He keeps a good attitude through the labor, which has kept him fit. Even if he has to do it alone.

It's not as hard as people think, he explained. All it takes is one step forward.

"Sometimes there's a fear about volunteering. It's as if you are asking someone to get married. People just need to get past the fear and do it," Dahlen said. "It's not that bad."



Reporter Justin Arnold: 425-339-3432 or jarnold@heraldnet.com.
http://www.heraldnet.com/article/200...WS01/712189866