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Suzanne Howard is 53 years old. She plays kickball every Tuesday. She will tell you, without hesitation, that Wonderfully Made has been life-changing — and she means it about herself.

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One of the questions I get asked most often is: what exactly do the volunteers do?

I love this question, because the honest answer is a little disorienting to people who expect a tidy job description. Let me tell you about Suzanne Howard.

Suzanne has been volunteering every Tuesday since the early days of the program. She helps in the bakery — holding bags open while Wonder Makers like Teon place the cookies inside, one per bag, tray after tray. She plays kickball on the activity court. She shows up, week after week, and gives her Tuesday to a room full of people who are glad she’s there.

But here is the thing about Suzanne’s answer to that question: she doesn’t talk about what she gives. She talks about what she receives.

“You go to volunteer but you walk away with your heart full of joy,” she said, “because they are so happy.”

She said it has been life-changing. She is 53 years old and she is playing kickball and she means every word of it.

“I’m 53 years old. How many times am I going to play kickball? It’s been life-changing for me.”

This is the pattern I have watched happen with every person who joins the Wonder Crew. You arrive thinking you are the one bringing something. You leave knowing that the exchange went the other way entirely — or more accurately, that it went both ways at once, in a way that is hard to explain until you have been in the room.

I have thought a lot about why this happens so consistently. Part of it is the wonder in the room itself — the particular joy of people who have been waiting a long time for a Tuesday like this one. But part of it is what the Wonder Makers give back. Troy cleans the sanctuary pews on Sunday mornings because he wants to contribute to the church that opened its doors to him. Ian celebrates every birthday in the room, not just the ones he knows well. Chase mentors people navigating stuttering disorders. The giving flows in every direction simultaneously.

The Wonder Crew is a real community. Lynn spent twelve years with her family in special needs camps before she found us and recognized in a moment what we were building. Kathy’s brother has special needs; she came because this community is personally meaningful in a way most volunteer opportunities never are. They are not generic helpers. They are people with histories, with real stakes, with reasons for showing up that go deeper than a Tuesday morning activity.

I built the Wonder Crew structure with that in mind. We don’t just recruit warm bodies — we recruit people who are ready to belong to something and to be changed by it. Because if you’re going to ask people to give their Tuesday, the least you can do is give them something worth coming back for.

Suzanne keeps coming back. The Wonder Makers keep coming back. That’s the whole story in two sentences.

Join the Wonder Crew

Wonderfully Made is looking for volunteers who want to show up, be present, and discover what it means to belong to something real. Visit wonderfullymadecommunity.org/get-involved/volunteer to get started.