Lorraine Mikulak

Lorraine Mikulak, a four year RSVP floor captain volunteer at Cathedral Towers, makes it her daily mission to reach out to the elderly population and bring cheer and happiness into their lives.

She serves meals Monday through Friday throughout 18 floors to over 30 residents; gets acquainted with neighbors on her floor; patrols the lobby and parking lot for suspicious people; does security checks in the hallways, gives out referral information about community agencies; reports illnesses to the service coordinator, and encourages residents to become actively involved with their tenant association.

Lorraine also volunteers countless hours for the SWAT (Senior Workers Available Today) program that provides short term assistance with various nonprofit and public agencies. She motivated and encouraged other residents to volunteer with her when they did mail outs at Dreams Come True, Children’s Miracle Network, Hope Haven and the City of Jacksonville’s Neighborhood Services Division. She also participated at the Jacksonville Zoo’s “Spooktacular” Halloween event by greeting over 2000 visitors; did clerical assignments at Lutheran Social Services; helped RSVP put together over 700 volunteer recognition gifts; and coordinated the assembly of 5000 fundraising wristbands for Fresh Ministries with RSVP volunteers from Cathedral Towers.

Many senior citizens live lives of quiet desperation and isolation. They do not have any family members or friends to assist them, visit or just give them an encouraging phone call to see how they are doing. Lorraine prides herself in doing just that. Because of her dedication, she received the Mayor’s Volunteer Female Senior Citizen of the Year Award in 2005 for her sincere volunteer dedication and making the City of Jacksonville a much better place to live.