By Colleen Wald
Ann's Choice Resident
As I listen to confident and energetic Dorothy Outland talk, I realize she incorporates volunteerism into all areas of her life.
As the wife of Alvan Outland, a Methodist minister, she delivers sermons about Biblical women on holidays. As a mother, she has instilled the art of doing good in her children and grandchildren “who are all givers,” she says. And as a patriotic citizen, Dorothy joined the USO and enlisted the help of Ann’s Choice residents to carry out the mission of that organization.
Volunteering miracles
Dorothy and Alvan are consummate volunteers. Married in 1949, they moved to Horsham in 1951 where he started the ambulance corps and was a volunteer fireman. Dorothy dispatched from her home via a red phone, which meant she was on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Dorothy served in theRed Cross Disaster Unit and at Abington Hospital for many years. When Alvan retired the Outlands lived in Wildwood, N.J., for 13 years, Alvan serving as an itinerant minister and bothstill volunteering. Once, when the fire company asked them to cook a dinner at the fire hall, Dorothy inquired, “How many will be there?” She was told maybe up to 200 people, but they ended up serving appr oximately 1,000 dinners.
I was reminded of theBiblical story about multiplying the loaves and fish, but there was no miracle. It was just Dorothy. Undaunted, she just kept someone running to the store for more potatoes.
Helping heroes (and their families too!)
The Outlands raised their children as givers too, and one daughter, Diane, became the head of this area’s USO.
Every holiday, including Thanksgiving, Dorothy and Diane help prepare and serve a full dinner to the men and women on the base. As a USO member, she has devoted time to touching the lives of servicemen and women leaving for and returning from Iraq.