Editor, Gazette-Journal:

During this past year, the Piankatank Ruritan Club donated over $19,000 back into the community of Mathews.  A few recipients of our donations were: Mathews Little League, Boys and Girls State, Boys and Girls Club, Mathews Family YMCA and even some college scholarships.

As a Ruritan club, we could do so much more; however, we are limited by something everyone says they do not have enough of … TIME. With more people, we create more time. If you have more people, you can spread out the work load. We can tackle more projects and participate in more events. 

This past year, our members donated nearly 2,800 hours of their time in various fundraising events from Market Days and fish dinners to operating the club and providing meals to other civic groups that use our hall for their meetings. There are two problems that can be resolved with your time. The first problem is volunteer burnout. Our hardworking volunteers put so much time and effort into...