Mike and Sandra Osborne volunteer at the Shawano Area Food Pantry and Resource Center, Salvation Army and Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) at Hope Community Church.
Sandra was born in Green Bay and graduated from Pulaski High School. She held various jobs before meeting and marrying Mike. He was born in Eau Claire and graduated from Fall Creek High School.
Mike worked at Armor Packing House for 15 years before going back to school for an associate degree in fluid power technology at Chippewa Valley Tech. He was with various companies selling hydraulic products.
Mike and Sandra have been married 27 years and between them have six children, 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. They live in the town of Wescott, where Mike makes firewood and Sandra has flower and vegetable gardens. They both love their pets — three dogs and a cat.
Q Where do you volunteer?
A Sandra: “At the food pantry, SAFPARC, and I help Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers (MOPS) at Hope Community Church.”
Mike: “Both SAFPARC and the Salvation Army.”
Q How did you get started?
A Sandra: “We wanted something for both of us to do. We went to the food pantry and asked if they needed help.”
Q What do you do?
A Sandra: “There’s a shopping cart, and I show the people how much they can take out. We started in March of 2015. For MOPS, they put me wherever depending on the number of kids they get. We entertain the kids. It‘s once a month Friday mornings from 9-11:30. We give the mothers a break.”
Mike: “They wanted someone to work on the computer and I register people when they come into the food pantry. When you work registering people they can go into the voucher area for the Salvation Army. They were looking for a person to replace Mike Ascher. I was a little apprehensive because they wanted someone each Wednesday. I drive school bus for Bonduel School District so I thought maybe I couldn’t be there that day, but I am there at least once a week. I interview clients with the purpose of helping them with things like rent, utilities and sometimes gas.”
Q How does the Salvation Army voucher work?
A Mike: “I write a voucher for an agreed upon amount. I send the voucher to Waukesha and they send a check. I also work with furniture vouchers from Habitat for Humanity. Our budget comes from the Red Kettle Campaign. People have to be from the county. If we run out of money we just close.”
Q Why do you volunteer?
A Sandra: “I like to. It’s fun and you get to know the ladies.”
Mike: “We like to help people. We’ve had a good history of helping people.”
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