‘She’s a doer’

Helping her community isn’t something new to Susan Weight. From raising money, making food and donating her time to a number of Creston organizations, Weight is a vital part of the volunteer community.

All of this has made Weight the 2023 recipient of the Creston Chamber of Commerce Volunteer of the Year. Weight, along with the person of the year and youth of the year, will be acknowledged 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14 during the Creston Chamber of Commerce annual meeting at the Creston Eagles Club.

While originally from the Creston area, Weight spent much of her life outside of Iowa. Coming back to Creston in 2007 when her husband became sick, Weight quickly became involved in the community.

“She jumped in right away. You usually don’t see it to that extent,” Jane Briley said. “Usually it take likes 30 years for a person to get involved, but she just jumped right in. She was doing it right off the bat.”

Briley nominated Weight after realizing just how much Weight does for the community.

“I had decided because I spent the summer kind of stepping in her shoes because she was gone on vacation for two weeks,” Briley said. “Helping with the student lunch program that we had with the churches, and what she did every day to help those churches out.”

This wasn’t the only reason Briley wanted to nominate Weight.

“I know she has worked with the [Lion’s] Club and the Friends of the Library,” Briley said. “The guys that I talked to, they were telling me all the different things that she does. Basically they were telling me, ‘she keeps us in line.’”

Briley isn’t the only one who thought Weight should win this award. Ann Driskell nominated Weight a few years ago, providing Briley with information this time around.

“She belongs to every organization that there is in town, I think,” Driskell said. “But it’s just the human side of her... If she sees that you need something and she can help, she’s there with no questions asked, that’s just the kind of person she is.”

Weight is indeed involved in a large number of organizations. Along with the Lion’s Club, Weight uses her skills as a librarian in supporting Gibson Memorial Library, through both fundraising and being a member of Friends of the Library and the Library Legacy Committee.

During her time outside of Creston, Weight served as a librarian in more than six states. After that, one might expect Weight to be done with her work. Instead, she’s now working as a librarian and teacher at St. Malachy Catholic School.

A member of First United Methodist Church, Weight has served the community in a number of ways, including as an instructor for vacation Bible school, raising funds for the fire department and the veteran’s honor flight and coordinating the summer lunch program and school supply drive with the religious group One in Christ. It was through her pastor, Jodi Rushing, that she started volunteering at the Creston Area Food Pantry.

Weight explained all this work started with volunteering at her church.

“I started out with doing a lot of church-related volunteerism, and then I got active in Lions through another friend from church,” Weight said. “It kind of kept going. When there’s opportunity, another one opens up.”

Despite all the work she does, Weight was surprised to find out she had won the Volunteer of the Year award.

“I was extremely surprised,” Weight said. “I knew they had this thing once a year, but I didn’t think of myself in that capacity of being someone who would be noted for that.”

Those who nominated Weight knew she didn’t expect recognition.

“She does so much that so many people don’t even realize, and she doesn’t expect anything,” Driskell said. “I’m sure she’s just mortified that she has gotten this, because she’s such a humble person. She’s a doer and doesn’t want to be recognized, always in the background, will do whatever.”

Weight shared her favorite memory of her time volunteering in Creston.

“It would have to be with the free summer lunches for kids and knowing what a difference it makes and knowing we’ll have a food and a snack, any little bit more that they’ll need in those days the school doesn’t serve it and they have nothing to eat some times,” Weight said. “It was very noticeable this year, I think, when we counted up for the end of the year. We served 3,243 meals and snacks in five weeks.”

Weight said she was grateful for the community she’s found in Creston.

“It’s such a great effort that the people keep so many things going here, and I’m just one little part in playing off the work of others who have had the ideas and knowledge to get it started,” Weight said. It helps you to become more a part of the community, especially if you are retiring or coming in. I feel that that’s one of Creston’s strengths, its volunteer community. It’s pretty great.”