Thank you to our many club volunteers who make our Club possible. Volunteers are our foundation. They don’t necessarily have a lot of time, but they do have a lot of commitment to making the world a better place. Mercy Mandelbaum is one Club member who epitomizes the spirit of the volunteer who believes you do what you can, when you can, to make all the difference you can.
In 1888, 29 enthusiastic Democrats started the Coronado Democratic Club. In 1999, when Mercy moved to Coronado, she looked around for Democrats. The number had not increased. She estimates that in 1999 there were 20-40 club members at the most, and they kept a low profile, meeting only once or twice a year. Seeing the need, Mercy started volunteering for club activities. She made a difference, illustrating the old maxim that nothing gets better unless people care a lot.
She started the club Newsletter, the Hospitality Committee, served as the unofficial Club historian, and worked on special events. She volunteered as Membership Chair, sent welcoming letters to new members, designed a membership roster, visited the club P.O. Box to collect dues checks, and recently worked on redesigning our online membership application. Mercy also started and chaired the New Voter Registration project.
After twenty-two years of non-stop volunteering, Mercy is stepping down for some well-deserved fun time with her husband, Ron, and their family and friends.
Mercy has served as a mentor for those of us who followed in her footsteps. We are grateful to her for her unfailing enthusiasm and interest in the welfare of our Club. She can look at our current club roster of 225 with pride and reflect on how the Club has grown under her leadership.
The best thing we can do for an organization is to replace ourselves. It will be impossible for Mercy to replace herself or for us to replace her. She will always be an inspiration for the members of the Coronado Democratic Club. In her honor, a new award will be given each year at the annual meeting: The Mercy Mandelbaum Award presented to the year’s outstanding volunteer.
