Always a Contributor
When Gene Woodward’s wife, Lois, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1972, he became a volunteer for the Michigan Chapter of the National MS Society.
“I had a reason – not only did my wife have MS, but my children and grandchildren could one day be affected,” he explains. “I wanted to help get a handle on this devastating disease.”
After Gene retired from his position as a business analyst for Dow’s Inorganic Chemicals group in 1986, he dedicated the bulk of his time to caring for his wife and fighting MS through volunteer work at a variety of positions and levels of the Society.
Although Gene’s wife lost her battle with MS in 1998, he has remained close to the Society, participating as a selfhelp group leader until this year. At 84, his involvement has taken a different tack – handling administrative duties at local and state Society levels.
He also finds time for United Way – an interest he developed while working on Dow campaigns as an employee. Working in Minnesota for Dow, Gene helped set up payroll deduction for United Way, a simple step that increased giving tremendously, he says.
Upon retirement, Gene segued into annual fundraising among Dow retirees and today works for United Way of Midland County, helping to implement the Midland campaign. He enjoys the youthful energy of the Midland group.
Gene got his start in volunteer work doing fundraising for the YMCA while attending high school in his hometown of Melrose, Massachusetts.
“I’ve always been a contributor. I guess you could say I got ‘broken in early,’” he recalls. “My mother was involved in door-to-door fundraising for the March of Dimes back when people literally gave dimes!”
When Gene first came to Midland for Dow, his boss asked him to assist with a Boy Scout project. That project led to an interest and involvement in scouting that was sustained over many years – before Gene’s three sons were old enough for scouting and for many years afterward. “The rewards of volunteering are many,” Gene adds, “And they extend far beyond the good feeling you get from helping others. As a volunteer, you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain.”