Volunteer Spotlight

Ann Hanak serving coffee to Betty Evans

She and her husband Joe dated their senior year in high school, soon after he had arrived from Czechoslovakia.  Though they went on lead separate lives after high school, their paths crossed again in 2001 and this time they married. 

Ann has been volunteering at Heartland’s Adult Day Care Center for the past two years.  On Tuesdays she serves morning toast and hot beverages as she welcomes the day’s participants with a big smile and cheerful conversation.

Ann is a volunteer counselor for Birthright in Campustown, and she and Joe help with Food at First on Monday evenings for St. Thomas Aquinas.  She also volunteers at St. Thomas as a sacristan for mass and in the Love Your Neighbor Program, again using her therapist degree to conduct interviews with those in need. 

Ann’s hobbies are reading, bridge, and traveling with Joe, often through Elder Hostel opportunities. They also travel from coast to coast throughout the year visiting their children (a total of 11!), grandchildren and one little great granddaughter.

Thank you, Joe, for bringing Ann to Ames, with her heart for serving and her enthusiasm for living life to the fullest. She encourages us all to seek on-going opportunities for growth and giving.